Imperial Crown.

Chapter 549 Space Law
I guess?

I guess what you're talking about!

Anno's silence made the answer crystal clear. Raven felt a chill run down his spine; he suddenly realized that everyone around him was truly "evil." Even the powerful and mysterious Blood Witch Anno had approached him with "some sinister purpose." She wasn't attracted to Raven's good looks, nor was she gambling on his future; she simply saw him as a cultivation vessel.

It was his own carelessness. The Blood Witch is still a witch. All witches follow the path of demonic and evil cultivation. It's just that over the years, perhaps because Raven had a constant stream of women around him, perhaps because Raven's cultivation level was too low, or perhaps because Anno herself had to spend years in seclusion cultivating, she hadn't yet taken action against Raven. Of course, the most likely explanation is that Raven's growth rate was simply too fast, leading her to later realize that she could no longer completely control him!
“Raven, you don’t need to be so angry,” Anno laughed. “In this world, everyone comes and goes with their own interests.” “Even the Elf Saintess had her own purposes, didn’t she?” “I admit that when I first approached you, I did have those kinds of thoughts, but I don’t anymore.” “We can cooperate.” “There is something in the Slaanesh Palace that can help you refine the Immortal Mark within your body and break the Blood Curse.”

"what?"

“There are seven Netherworld Silk Flowers inside,” Anno said. “Once you get them, you won’t have to stay here and accompany the Elf Saintess to the Tomb of the Living.”

Raven sneered, "If I remember correctly, there was a giant dragon in there."

“That’s right.” Anno nodded. “The dragon inside is named Qimoangsou. It’s at the peak of the seventh rank. But it’s old now.” “If the four of us join forces, we’re not without a chance.”

“Anno, I can forgive you for being dishonest with me before. But now you’re treating me like a fool again?” Raven was getting annoyed. “Let’s not even talk about whether the four of us together are a match for that dragon. Even if we are, can the Netherworld Silk Flower really help me refine the Eternal Divine Mark? Or is it just that you want to break through to the sixth tier of magical plants yourself?” “If we’re going to cooperate, we have to be honest with each other. We can’t just lay our chests bare, can we? At the very least, we have to tell the truth.”

Anno sighed softly, "How easy is it to refine the Eternal Divine Mark? With your current level, it's impossible to refine it all! Naturally, you can't break the blood curse in your body either!" "Do you think you can immediately break the blood curse in your body just because you promised the Elf Saintess? She's just using you to absorb battle qi." "Refining the Eternal Divine Mark in your body will absolutely take a hundred years of painstaking effort!" "However, the Netherworld Silk Flower, as a fifth-tier demonic plant, can help you fuse the battle qi and demonic power in your body. Once the two fuse to form Battle-Magic Yuanqi, then you can naturally begin to refine the Eternal Divine Mark in your body little by little."

"What about the elven saintess? Even if we succeed, what if she doesn't agree? We'll still be dead!" Raven pointed out the core problem.

"Don't worry!" Anno shook his head. "We've come all this way to compete for resources. The Elf Saintess has lived for thousands of years; she doesn't care about these things anymore. Our life or death is our choice, it has nothing to do with her." "The reason she stayed here before was simply to wait for you!"

"Oh," Raven nodded. "So this is the legendary 'Heaven and Earth are ruthless, treating all things like straw dogs'?" It seems all cultivation, in the end, leads to the same thing—the Great Dao is merciless. In that case, wouldn't the Holy Maiden not interfere even if they killed elves within the forbidden zone? No wonder the Holy Maiden didn't intervene during their earth-shattering battle with the Ridgeback Rhinoceros. It can only be said that while the Elven Holy Maiden's strength is terrifying, she has chosen the path of personal power enhancement, not the path of expanding the elven race's territory.

Raven desperately wanted to resolve the blood curse within him, but he was unwilling to give up everything for the sake of cultivation.

"Hey, you two, come here!" Raven called over Beamon Litanshi and the dwarf Gilida and told them everything Anno had been thinking.

Before he could finish speaking, the two men, one tall and one short, shook their heads vigorously. Gilida, in a shrill voice, exclaimed, "What are you talking about? I shouldn't have fallen for that woman's trick!" Gilida's expression still showed lingering fear; clearly, the saintess's magic spell had completely shattered his courage. That terrifying magical domain brought only endless dread and despair. Surviving was already a stroke of incredible luck! He wouldn't dare to court death again.

“Then you two…” Raven had a bad feeling.

“We’re leaving now! Leaving the forbidden zone, never to return,” Litanshi murmured.

"Is he really leaving?" Raven's heart was filled with reluctance. After all, he was living in constant fear, and having a few more people die with him would at least make him feel a little better.

“Yes.” Gilida said without hesitation. Although the dwarves were small, they all had thick beards, and Gilida was no exception. He stroked his beard with his small hand and asked, “Hermit, I heard from Litanshi that you have two Elven Bone Orchids. Would you be willing to part with them? I’m willing to pay any price.”

"What Elf Bone Orchid?" Raven shook his head innocently. "Never heard of it."

"Stop pretending, Raven." Gilida jumped up from the ground, climbed up Lytanshi's thick, root-like legs onto his shoulder, and looked down at Raven, saying, "I heard your whole conversation. So you're the legendary Raven. I'm so stupid! I should have recognized you the moment I saw those dark eyes!" "But it's not too late now. As Lytanshi said before, the Fourth Continental War is about to begin. Why don't you use an Elven Bone Orchid to exchange for my promise? I guarantee the Dwarf Kingdom will never be your enemy, how about that?"

Raven was struggling to hold back his laughter, his lips pursed into crescent moons. He wanted to laugh but forced himself to suppress it. He found both Beamon Litanshi and the dwarf Gilida to be endearingly foolish. But this suited their personas—they were always focused on their training, kept to themselves, and were clueless about social niceties. After all, they were bounty hunters. Like the elven saintess, they immediately went straight to the point with Raven, a quirk usually associated with those dedicated to cultivation. A mere fourth-tier dwarf, if he even held a baronial title, wouldn't be a bounty hunter. And now he was saying something like, "I'll make sure the dwarven kingdom won't be my enemy"? Wasn't he afraid of making a fool of himself? It certainly fit Gilida's penchant for boasting.

Seemingly noticing Raven's speechlessness, Gilida pursed his lips. "How about I trade you some treasure?" A flash of light appeared on the ring, and Gilida produced an object in his hand. "This compass, I obtained it from a necromancer I once killed. Take a look."

Raven took it; it was heavy and cold to the touch, clearly made of extremely dense materials. However, this object, resembling a weightlifting barbell disc, was covered in a dense network of cracks, like a spiderweb, with many places bearing dents the size of fingernails. Its color was deep, with a patina, and covered in indescribable grime, virtually impossible to remove. Raven couldn't understand what value this thing could possibly have. However, as he probed it with his spiritual energy, his expression subtly changed! This compass was of a high rank, at least fifth-tier! Perhaps even higher. It was damaged and unusable, but its true value lay in the fact that it contained a law—the Law of Space!
This thing might not be very useful to others, because once the spatial laws within an enchanted object are absorbed, it's impossible for someone to break through from the fifth to the sixth rank. It essentially fixes their cultivation path! If they can't find anything else that embodies the spatial laws, they're basically cut off from any chance of advancing to the sixth rank. But Raven is different! Relying on the Eye of Truth, he can almost completely remove the corrupted essence from everything. Over the years, by absorbing the elemental power from all kinds of magic cores, he's long since become an all-around monster. This is also because he can cultivate magic spells of all attributes! Therefore, no law power will hinder his advancement! Of course, if he could have the Blood Law, that would be even better. It would be more compatible with the attributes of Raven's body! It's like the fantasy novels I read in my previous life; everyone's constitution is different, and naturally, their spiritual roots are different too.

"How about it? You won't lose out by switching to me, right? How about I add another 10,000 bottles of Angel's Tears?" Gilida said proudly, standing on Litanshi's shoulder with her arms crossed.

“No.” Raven shook his head and handed the compass back. “This thing is unusable. The contents are good, but they’re useless to me. If you have any enchanted items with the Blood Law, I can trade you for an Elven Bone Orchid.”

"Raven!" "Don't be ungrateful!" "An enchanted treasure with the power of laws must be at least a fifth-tier material. You're not happy about exchanging it for a fourth-tier magical plant?" Gilida said indignantly, "Aren't you just being ungrateful after getting a bargain?"

"Then why don't you refine it yourself?" Raven asked, glancing sideways at the other person.

"Uh..." The question silenced Gilidagan. He stammered for a long time, unable to articulate his thoughts. "Fine, fine, how about we forget about the ten thousand bottles of Angel's Tears? We'll trade you a single Elf Bone Orchid." "Not worth it," Raven shook his head again.

"You!" It was obvious that even if Litanshi and Gilida were incredibly dense, they could clearly sense that Raven was deliberately trying to drive down the price. An enchanted item imbued with the laws of space was, in every respect, more valuable than a fourth-tier magical plant! If the Elven Bone Orchid weren't only found in forbidden areas, Gilida wouldn't have been willing to sell it so cheaply! But Raven was so despicable, still not satisfied. Human nobles, indeed greedy and shameless! But now all the bargaining chips were in Raven's hands. Gilida, besides being good at boasting, wasn't eloquent and unwilling to lower his status as a fourth-tier powerhouse by haggling. After taking a deep breath, Gilida asked, "Then tell me, what will it take for you to agree?"

“This,” Raven said, pointing to the compass, “is accompanied by one more condition.”

"What are the conditions?" Litanshi asked curiously.

"Help me kill someone," Raven said without changing his expression.

"Who?" Gilida asked, frowning. They were both fourth-tier; if Raven couldn't handle it, then the two of them probably wouldn't be able to either.

“You don’t need to know who it is right now,” Raven said with a forced smile. “Once you two break through to the fifth rank, come find me in Eagle Territory, and I will naturally inform you. Of course, if you two are willing to take on this mission, you can live in Eagle Territory from now on. Breaking through there is absolutely safe.” “If you two can successfully complete the mission, I can prepare another surprise for you two.”

"What surprise?" Litanshi's eyes lit up.

Gilida's brow furrowed even deeper. "Then we should at least know some information about the mission target, right? Like their level? Are they a transcendent being or a mage?"

“Fifth-tier transcendent.” Raven stroked his chin. “If we’re lucky, he shouldn’t become a sixth-tier after you break through to the fifth tier. If he does break through to the sixth tier, then the mission will be automatically canceled.” “However… the tricky part is that he always has a sixth-tier mage by his side.” “And this matter must be done secretly by the two of you, and you absolutely cannot involve me in the slightest.”

Litanch and Gilida exchanged a glance upon hearing this, then smiled. "I think I know who it is. No problem. Third brother! Big brother promises you." Litanch patted Raven's shoulder heavily.

Raven's shoulder was patted so hard it made a loud thud, and he couldn't help but grimace. "Go easy!" Then Raven took out the Elf Bone Orchid and exchanged the compass with Gilida.

Goodbye, Third Brother!

"treasure."

Litanshi and Gilida bid farewell to Raven, and then Litanshi strode towards the outside of the forbidden area, singing loudly as he went. Gilida occasionally chimed in, but Raven couldn't understand a word she said.

Anno walked over from the side and said quietly, "I'm leaving too, Raven." Originally, the four of them working together still had a chance, but now that Litanshi and Gilida have left, only she and Raven are left, so there's no point in staying here.

Raven nodded, saying nothing more. All good things must come to an end. Despite the many wonderful memories he and Anno had shared since meeting, this incident meant Raven would never trust Anno again. It was a subtle feeling, or perhaps akin to the taste of hormones. Once "trust" crumbles, even without words or harsh language exchanged, both parties can clearly sense it.

After the three left, Raven was bored and occasionally went into the palace. However, it was clear that Zimmerango didn't welcome him much, and almost killed Raven several times. But as Raven's antics became more and more frequent, Zimmerango stopped paying attention to him. As long as Raven didn't touch the treasures inside, he was fine.

If it were according to Raven's old ways, he would definitely have first deceived the elven saintess to gain her trust, and then, like his ancestor Don Quixote, sought an opportunity to escape. But doing so would be pointless. Once he left the forbidden area, the immortal divine mark within him would no longer be a sacred relic of immortality, but a deadly blood curse. Wouldn't he have let the elven saintess play him for nothing? Raven, a model of morals, would never do something that only results in him suffering losses without any benefit.

Next, Raven plans to refine the spatial laws within the compass little by little.

Time flies, and more than four months have passed in the blink of an eye. Raven has become a wild man, yet he still hasn't grasped the mysteries of the laws of space. This is why everyone carefully chooses their path in understanding the laws. Because comprehending the laws is incredibly time-consuming, and a wrong step will inevitably ruin one's future.

"Hey!"

Why aren't you wearing any clothes?!

That day, Raven was lying sprawled out on a bluestone, enjoying a sunbath, after taking a bath, when a crisp voice suddenly rang out angrily.

Raven opened his eyes and saw a stunningly beautiful elf flying in the air, hands on her hips, looking at him.

"Hey?"

Raven's heart skipped a beat; he suddenly had a brilliant idea. A way to both break the blood curse and leave the forbidden area! "Get down here!" Raven's face suddenly turned ferocious, and he leaped up, grabbing the seemingly young elf and pulling it down!
……

(End of this chapter)