Imperial Crown.

Chapter 608 Shameless Master and Minister

wow——

The local baron publicly slapped the imperial marquis and earl. This scene immediately caused an uproar among the 2-30 minor nobles outside the city. To put it bluntly, the impact and shock of this incident was almost no less than that of Raven, a fifth-tier one-star, independently killing Ferdinand, a sixth-tier four-star.

The previously nonchalant nobles immediately scrambled out of their carriages and stood in a neat row, heads bowed, looking down at their shoes like quails. They remained completely oblivious to the miserable fate of their former superiors, the Marquis of Huber and the Earl of Novichau, pretending not to see it. Not daring to utter a single utterance.

"court death!!"

A loud shout rang out, and several of Huber and Novahau's men immediately rushed out from beside the carriage, charging menacingly towards Eric! Because Huber and Novahau were from Daphneshire, when they arrived at dusk, the carriages were already lined up in a long queue. To cut in line, their coachmen had to maneuver the carriage around to the front, joining the original queue, intending to force their way into the city. That's why they were delayed. After all, coaches alone weren't enough; if these extraordinary subordinates didn't come along, why would the minor nobles willingly give up their places? They had already been waiting there for almost a whole day.

Huber has several skilled subordinates: one at level four, one at level three, and one at level two. As for Novichau, he only has two extraordinary subordinates: one at level three and one at level two.

At this moment, all five men were radiating fighting spirit, weapons in hand, as they crossed the carriage and charged towards Eric.

"Humph!!"

Eric suddenly snorted coldly, drew his longsword with a clang, and slashed horizontally towards the five people. The next moment, a crescent-shaped sword light burst forth from the broad blade, radiating an extremely dazzling silver light, and disappeared before everyone's eyes in a flash.

Even as the conflict reignited, everyone present instinctively frowned and looked over. But Eric's silver sword flash forced them to close their eyes. When they opened them again, everything seemed normal. Only a strong gust of wind had swept through. The five men still leaped over the carriage and stood before Eric. The wind swept across, causing the carriage curtains, draperies, and decorations to flutter loudly. The clothes on the five men also billowed wildly in the wind!

The strange thing was that after the five men, weapons in hand, finally reached Eric, they all froze in place, as motionless as stones. Eric, on the other hand, had already sheathed his greatsword and was mounting his horse.

"Tick-tock," "Tick-tock," "Tick-tock," "Tick-tock"... approximately four seconds later. A deafening explosion suddenly erupted! A long row of carriages, including those of Huber and Novichau parked on the outer edge, were all stripped of their roofs! The five extraordinary beings, desperate to save their master, were instantly severed in two, utterly dead. The shattered roofs scattered countless fragments like projectiles indiscriminately in all directions. The sheer number of these fragments was like a thousand pounds of fireworks exploding simultaneously, blotting out the sky! It was as terrifying as a tidal wave! All the nobles present cried out in terror and hastily lay prone in the mud. Some were even worse off, their obese, pig-like bodies tumbling and rolling on the ground.

"Hiss hiss hiss!" "Ouch, my butt!" "My eyes! My eyes!"... "It hurts! It hurts so much!"...

Some horses were pierced by shrapnel, some even struck in the back of the head, collapsing instantly with a thud. Their hooves thrashed wildly, whimpering in agony. The surviving horses, terrified, let out a long neigh and began to bolt in a frenzy. Marquis Huber's carriage alone had eight horses, and Count Novihaus's carriage had four. Those two alone had a total of twelve horses! Not to mention the horses in the other nobles' carriages. In an instant, chaos erupted outside the city. The nobles were even more devastated; a few wounded nobles wailed and screamed like pigs being slaughtered.

However, soon a group of strong eagle-men flew out from the city walls, and a group of burly werewolves surged out from below, beginning a massacre of the horses. Before long, all the frightened horses were killed.

The group, still shaken, scrambled to their feet from the mud; otherwise, they would likely have perished under the hooves of those frightened horses. They all looked at Eric with extreme fear. Coupled with the five extraordinary corpses severed in two beside them, at this moment, everyone clearly realized just how terrifying Eric's power truly was!
At the same time, Eric mounted his horse, a playful smirk playing on his lips: "My lords," he said, "would you now be willing to walk into the city?"

"Hmmmm,"

At this moment, Novihau's braid was undone, and the bandage on his forehead was gone. What a pity about that round gold ornament; it was nowhere to be seen. Huber was in a similar state, covered in mud, looking only slightly better than a serf. Hearing this, Huber nodded his head like a chicken pecking at rice. Novihau nodded even more vigorously. Even more comical was that both of their cheeks were swollen like pigs' heads, blood flowing freely, teeth flying everywhere. Gone was the arrogance and domineering attitude they had displayed moments before. Because they realized that not only did Eric really dare to kill them, but the situation was far more serious than they had imagined.

And so, Eric rode ahead on horseback, while the two of them followed behind like prisoners. They looked like they were walking dogs, the only thing missing being the leash. Fortunately, in their current state, they were largely unrecognizable to the townspeople. This actually made them feel much more at ease and relieved.

Both of them are at a high level. Huber is a third-tier, nine-star cultivator, and Novichau is a third-tier, six-star cultivator. Do not be misled into thinking their levels are low. In fact, on the Miders Continent, breaking through to the third tier of transcendent already means crushing at least 80% of warriors. Breaking through to the fourth tier means crushing at least 90%. Breaking through to the fifth tier means crushing at least 95%. Breaking through to the sixth tier means crushing 99%. As for seventh-tier experts, you can count them on two hands. Eighth-tier experts are unheard of.

It took them about an hour and a half to finally arrive at the castle. This castle was originally built by an earl appointed by the Marquis of Huber. It was killed by Acorus long before the two refused to provide logistical support to Ferdinand. Now it was unclaimed land, and Eric and the others were temporarily working here, handling the city's affairs.

"Waaaaah... Where is Lord Raven?"

Novichau, with his pig-like head, mumbled the question. His voice sounded very unclear.

"Oh"

Eric clicked his tongue. "I forgot to tell you two." "The patriarch is slightly unwell and has been in seclusion for some time. He'll probably be out in three...four...five...six...months." "What bad timing!"

Huber: ...

Novichau: ...

Damn it, doesn't that mean they got beaten up for nothing?!

Although the two dared not speak their anger, their eyes couldn't help but flash with dissatisfaction. "Then we'll visit again another day," Uncle Hu said, preparing to leave immediately. He didn't want to endure this humiliation for even a moment longer.

"Hey," "Don't rush," "My lords."

Eric quickly smiled and said, "Although the patriarch is not here, logistics, provisions, money, weapons, and soldier support... these are the same things you can discuss with me." "You two must know this, right?" "The Griffith family keeps three giant dragons." As he spoke, a strange smile appeared on Eric's face. "They are violent and have huge appetites. If they are extremely hungry, they will eat whatever they want." "With the patriarch not here, I can hardly control them."

Huber: ...

Novichau: ...

Faced with Eric's blatant threat, the two felt a pang of bitterness. Shameless! Utterly shameless! Like father, like son! Eric's despicable behavior is probably even worse than Raven's.

……

Ferdinand awoke slowly, finding himself still alive. But the stench of blood was overwhelming, as if he'd been submerged in a vat of blood. Around him were countless blood-red spheres the size of candied hawthorns. Everywhere he looked, above, below, left, and right, was thick, blood-red mist. It was nauseating. Although he, now only a soul, couldn't smell the stench, he could still sense it.

"You...you're not dead?!"

Sudden.

A voice, like that of a deity, resounded throughout the space. This voice was indifferent, vast, and heavy… filled with an indescribable roar, as if it were the master of this space. An irrepressible urge to submit and kneel arose within Pei Dinan.

"Who are you?" Ferdinand asked instinctively. Then, he quickly realized, "Oh," "Raven."

Raven stared at Ferdinand in utter astonishment. His gaze swept over the dense clusters of blood beads in the space, and a thought struck him. It seemed that the so-called silver-white bead was actually Ferdinand's soul in disguise. So this blood ring could not only convert extraordinary bodies into blood energy, but it could also imprison extraordinary souls?!
This is truly an invaluable treasure left to us by our ancestors!

"Hmph!" "Still not behaving yourself!" Looking at Pédinan, who was still putting on airs, Raven snorted coldly. His mental energy transformed into a sharp spear, stabbing fiercely towards Pédinan's leg. With a "whoosh," the spear instantly severed Pédinan's left leg, turning into a wisp of silver mist that surged towards the inner wall of the Blood Ring. It then burrowed into Raven's index finger, heading towards his brow. "Buzz!" Raven's mental energy immediately strengthened slightly.

Oh open!

This was originally an energy bead to replenish spiritual power! However, when imprisoned in the ring, it allowed the extraordinary to exist in the form of a soul. "So I'm Xiao Yan's split flame??" "Found myself an old man??" Raven's mouth almost twisted into a grin. Whether extraordinary or a mage, once awakened, spiritual power is inevitably born. However, compared to mages who heavily rely on spiritual power to cast spells, extraordinary beings don't focus on cultivating spiritual power. They primarily rely on their physical bodies and internal battle qi. Again, mages are like cultivators, while extraordinary beings are more like body cultivators. They follow completely different cultivation paths. If extraordinary beings are one in ten thousand, then mages are one in a hundred thousand. No exaggeration.

"uh"

Ferdinand roared in agony, "Little Bee!" "What are you doing?!" His left leg was gone, but it quickly materialized again. However, his entire soul form suddenly became thinner. If he weren't a soul form, he would probably be bleeding profusely and covered in sweat. He hurriedly questioned loudly.

"What are you doing??" "When you were ordered to strangle me, why didn't you ask yourself any questions?"

Raven's voice echoed endlessly within the Blood Ring's space. It was a pity he couldn't transform himself into a soul form and appear within the Blood Ring. Otherwise, he really wanted to go in and have another good hand-to-hand fight with Ferdinand. To have had one.

"Humph"

Ferdinand snorted coldly. His lips moved, clearly wanting to refute something. But ultimately, fearing further torment from Raven, he fell silent.

He remained silent, and Raven ignored him. Without a word, he transformed his spiritual power into sharp spears, piercing and exploding the blood beads around him. This transformed into a surging, bloody energy, which he absorbed into his body. The crimson seed of battle qi within Raven immediately trembled, leaping with excitement as if receiving a powerful tonic. This seed of battle qi was about the size of a palm, long and irregular in shape, with a diamond-cut, rhomboid cross-section. It was also honeycomb-like. After swallowing this abundant bloody energy, Raven's battle qi immediately surged significantly.

Compared to the bloody energy converted from magic by Adjani, the conversion rate of extraordinary cultivators, who were also practitioners of martial arts, was far more considerable. Raven greedily absorbed the blood beads. Time passed slowly.

Two months later, Raven finally absorbed all the blood beads in the Blood Ring. His cultivation level soared from the fifth rank, first star, to the fifth rank, seventh star! "Tsk," Raven frowned in dissatisfaction. He had thought it would at least help him break through to the sixth rank. But this was already quite good. You must know that before Raven killed Ferdinand, not only was Ferdinand's internal fighting spirit exhausted, but even his fighting spirit seed was withered and decayed. Even so, Raven was still able to break through seven minor realms in a row. This shows how powerful and solid Ferdinand's strength was.

However, this also revealed Raven's limitation to the Blood Ring: while powerful, its conversion rate wasn't actually that impressive. It was at most 5%. For a mage, the effect would be even worse, perhaps 3%? After all, even a sixth-tier Adjani could only advance him from fourth to fifth tier. Furthermore, the Blood Ring's conversion of blood energy had a prerequisite: the number of blood beads needed depended heavily on the enemy killed… or rather, the prey's own condition! If the prey was in extremely poor condition, very little blood energy could be converted. This led to a paradox—if Raven wanted to absorb energy from his opponent, he had to kill them with the Blood Ring. But the opponent wouldn't just sit idly by. After a fierce battle, their condition would naturally be poor, resulting in fewer blood beads for Raven to absorb.

"If I had known," "I shouldn't have wasted Akori."

Raven secretly regretted it. However, he also knew that Akori was a fourth-tier transcendent, and even with the complete transformation, it would probably be difficult for him to break through three minor realms.

Being too low a cultivation level won't work. Being in poor condition won't work either. This blood ring isn't as powerful as I imagined at all.

But the power to imprison souls still delighted Raven. "Oh dear!" Raven slapped his thigh, filled with regret. He shouldn't have severed Adjani's head in the first place; otherwise, wouldn't his mental strength now rival that of a sixth-tier mage?! Besides, what's the point of keeping an "old man" in a ring compared to keeping an "old woman"?!

"So young," Raven thought, filled with remorse. At the time, he was only thinking of comforting Nancy's spirit in heaven.

"Um"

He took out the Angel's Radiance, turning it back and forth to carefully examine his newly grown ears and restored black hair. Raven nodded in satisfaction. These two months of training had not only healed his injuries but also restored his appearance to its former state.

"Raven!" "Raven!!!"

Within the Blood Ring, faint fluctuations emanated. Ferdinand called out to Raven as if calling for his soul.

"What's the matter?"

Raven immersed himself in his mental energy and asked a question.

"Raven." "I'm asking you," "Did you really kill my whole family so viciously?"

Ferdinand's panic was visibly palpable. For the past two months, no matter what he did, Raven had ignored him. Boredom, tedium, and frustration... lingered in Ferdinand's mind and permeated every inch of his soul. Furthermore, the hundreds of blood beads within the blood ring had been completely emptied. Next, they would surely absorb him. And he was clearly not ready for reincarnation. At this moment, he could only offer a flimsy excuse to ask.

Mentioning family members clearly indicates a hope that Raven will feel some remorse and let him off the hook.

Raven was speechless. He said with disgust, "You shot the arrow yourself, and now you're blaming me?" "Stop talking nonsense." Raven saw right through Ferdinand's little scheme.

“But you arrested them first!” Ferdinand retorted. “Since ancient times, only the victor is remembered.” “I don’t want to waste my breath on you.” “I just want to know,” he continued, “which of my relatives were in that sack? I need to make my will!”

Raven chuckled coldly, "I really wish it were your family members who died." "Unfortunately," "In the sack are Marquis Tyrone, Earl Minsk, Viscount Hyde, the sorcerer Jon... and two priests from the Church of Light." "And some others, all loyal retainers from Tyrone Serpent Keep." Raven then changed the subject, "However," "judging by the time," "your family will be here soon."

"You! You actually lied to me?!" "Utterly despicable and shameless!"

Ferdinand was momentarily speechless, unsure whether to be happy or angry.

"Thank you for the compliment." Raven smiled. "This is nothing." "I still have a recording bead. I will announce to the world that you shot and killed the Imperial Marquis and the priest of the Holy See."

Ferdinand felt a chill run down his spine. Offending a scoundrel like Raven was worse than death.

"By the way," "I have something to ask you too." "Where did Clown K go?"

Raven was initially on the verge of a fierce battle with Ferdinand, but he remained wary of Joker K. Simon and the three-headed dragon were his backup plans. If he still couldn't hold them off, Raven would immediately use his spirit teleportation to escape. He always acted with extreme caution, step by step. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he was meticulous and cautious.

However, these words caused Ferdinand's expression to change drastically. His face turned grave as he looked up at the inner wall of the Blood Ring. After a long silence, he said in a hoarse voice:

“Raven,” he said, “you have more than just Vesdon as a spy in the capital.” After saying that, he sighed with a sense of loss and said in a low voice, “I was ultimately too arrogant. Like everyone else, I was defeated by underestimating you.”

……

(End of this chapter)