Chapter 167 - Disaster in the East (Part 7)

Chapter 167: Chapter 160: Disaster in the East (Part 7)"I swear by the name of the Heavenly God that I will not participate in any wars between the Empire and the Gold Family," given the salary offered by the Gold Family, life was still more important.

Lu Hong said nothing and looked at Hill.

Hill hesitated for a moment, indecisive. She still felt a sense of belonging to the Gold Family, and had this been before, she might have chosen to fight with Lu Hong to remove the major threat for her family.

However, the secret order from the Elder Council to Cliff to kill the master of Blazing Fire made her waver.

"Hill, what are you thinking!" Cliff scolded in a low voice, "The Gold Family’s regard for us is just so-so. We are struggling on the front lines for them, and what’s the end of it? The Elder Council can issue me a secret mission to kill the master of Blazing Fire today, and they might as well issue orders to others to eliminate us in the future!"

"I don’t understand why the Elder Council would have you kill the master of Blazing Fire?!" Hill said gravely, "It doesn’t make sense!"

Cliff scoffed coldly, "What’s not to make sense, since the retreat to Mandarin Duck Flower, the stipend Master of Blazing Fire demanded from the Elder Council has almost increased tenfold, and behind closed doors, the Master has been communicating with the Feng Xi and Chi Lan families, none of these actions can escape the ears of the Elder Council."

"Since the Master of Blazing Fire was the first to betray, it’s reasonable to issue the assassination mission, but I haven’t," Hill rejected Cliff’s previous warning, "After all, the Gold Family has been gracious to me; as long as I do not betray the family, I believe the Elder Council will not abandon me."

"Short-sighted woman!" Cliff, seeing that he couldn’t persuade Hill, didn’t insist any further and turned to Lu Hong, "I can’t control this crazy woman. Our agreement can continue."

"Then if you join me to take care of her, I can agree to spare your life."

Cliff’s expression was fluctuating as he faced Lu Hong’s proposal. To be honest, he didn’t want to take action against Hill; after all, the two had cooperated on the battlefield many times and were comrades in the trenches. He felt a certain obligation.

Hill, however, stepped back half a step, vigilantly watching Cliff. When it came to attacking the Master of Blazing Fire earlier, she hadn’t seen any hesitation from him.

"Enough, both of you stop quarreling." Just as the three of them were at a standoff, Piao Miao’s figure suddenly flickered onto the scene, standing between Hill and Cliff.

"Lan Xin, My Lord?" Seeing Piao Miao appear, Hill seemed somewhat excited.

As for Cliff, he slowly retreated, not believing that Piao Miao would ignore their previous conversation. Now that his hint of betrayal to the Gold Family had been exposed, he could no longer return to the family. Piao Miao’s appearance at this moment was an enemy rather than a friend to Cliff.

With the subtle relationship between the three now disrupted, Cliff was practically aligning himself with Lu Hong’s side, seeking to ally with him to combat both Hill and Piao Miao.

"My Lord Lan Xin, are you here to help us?" Hill was full of confidence in Piao Miao; in her eyes, not only was this Lord Lan Xin powerful, but also the right-hand man of the Elder Council. Her appearance virtually declared the outcome of this battle.

"Yes," Piao Miao nodded, her warm smile giving a feeling of a spring breeze.

"But actually..." Suddenly, Piao Miao changed the subject, "What Cliff said isn’t without reason!"

"Lord Piao Miao!" Hill furrowed her brow, wondering why the other would say such a thing?

Lu Hong looked on, smiling at all this. He knew of Piao Miao; surely Lan Xin was his undercover alias in the Gold Family. At the moment, the trust Hill had in Piao Miao almost made Lu Hong laugh. It was likely that both Hill and Cliff couldn’t imagine that this Lord Lan Xin was here to help Lu Hong.

"I’m just speaking offhand," Piao Miao soothed Hill and then turned to Cliff, "If you’re willing to come back with me to confess your crimes, perhaps I will ask the Elder Council to give you a chance to reform."

"Heh," Cliff sneered, "You are very well aware of what kind of people the Elder Council are, don’t you think that sounds fake?"

Cliff turned to Lu Hong, "If we join forces now, just kill those two, and the Gold Family will have no peak masters left, and then it will be too easy for the Empire armies to take down the Gold Family."

"Okay," Lu Hong nodded, "Leave Lan Xin to me."

"Good!" Cliff quickly agreed. He couldn’t handle a fully prepared Piao Miao, so since Lu Hong had volunteered, Cliff couldn’t ask for more.

"Start!" Since they had already picked their opponents, Piao Miao uttered a low cry to initiate the battle.

Both Hill and Cliff had just moved when two dark hands claimed their lives.

"You...?" Hill truly wasn’t on guard against Piao Miao; when attacked from behind, Piao Miao’s Magic Power Ice Crystal instantly shattered her heart, leaving no chance for her at all.

Cliff also suffered the same fate, the Blood Holy Sword piercing through the opponent’s chest. The power of blood and qi exploded within him, leaving poor Cliff without a bone left, turned into a sky of blood mist.

Having dealt with the two officiants, Lu Hong retracted the Holy Sword and smiled, "Piao Miao, is it? Nice to meet you, thanks a lot."

"Hehe, there’s no need to thank me, Sir Tu Ku Lu. I’m just doing my duty for my master," Piao Miao approached Lu Hong for a closer look, "It’s hard to believe that a Second Transition warrior could achieve such remarkable military exploits."

"That’s nothing, I nearly lost my life," Lu Hong replied with a bitter smile, "In this lifetime, I definitely don’t want to repeat this experience."

"Whether you want to or not, the battle at East Look Mountain has nearly cemented the defeat of the Gold Family," Piao Miao laughed, "You are indeed the greatest hero of this Wingflower plane war."

"Are old man Ke and the others safe?" Lu Hong, with no great desire for gain, did not pick up on Piao Miao’s topic.

"Of course, I take great care of friends of Sir Tu Ku Lu."

"That’s good, thanks," Lu Hong nodded, "What’s next for us?"

"No rush," Piao Miao looked at Lu Hong and asked, "I have a few doubts, I wonder if Sir Tu Ku Lu could help me resolve them?"

"Feel free to ask, I shall share all that I know." Since Piao Miao wasn’t in a hurry, Lu Hong also wasn’t concerned that more people from the Gold Family might show up.

"Transforming into a blood beast to grapple with a level 10 demon beast. When you arrived at East Look Mountain, it seems your rank was only Second Transition Level 3, right?" Piao Miao spoke slowly, "After two great battles, upon waking from the blood beast form, your level has soared directly to Level 5. For such speed in leveling up, do you have any secrets?"

"This..." Lu Hong seemed to have been caught off guard. He had just claimed he would withhold no information, but he couldn’t answer this question. He certainly couldn’t divulge that he might have an experience bar inside him.

"No rush, no rush," Piao Miao didn’t press Lu Hong and continued, "After awakening, with your strength alone, you were able to suppress Hill’s dragon form. Such power is not something ordinary people possess."

Piao Miao’s gaze swept over Lu Hong, bringing up a trace of blue ice crystals. The scars left from his battle with Cliff were beginning to heal. The speed of recovery was infuriatingly fast.

"So, you want to know about my bloodline?"

Piao Miao shook her head, "I’ve roughly guessed your bloodline, it’s the Lionheart Royal Family, isn’t it?"

Lu Hong inwardly sighed at this woman’s cleverness. Seeing that she had guessed right, he didn’t deny it and nodded, "You’re not wrong."

"Indeed, it’s the Lionheart bloodline!" Upon receiving Lu Hong’s confirmation, a zealous light burst forth from Piao Miao’s eyes.

Suddenly, the ice crystals roaming around Lu Hong’s body connected in a line, transforming into frozen chains that tightly bound him.

"What are you doing?!" Lu Hong was startled, but no matter how he struggled, he couldn’t escape Piao Miao’s bond.

"I’ve long coveted the Lionheart bloodline!" Piao Miao seemed to have succumbed to madness, "I know your bloodline must not be one of those mixed ones, but a pure one, a pure one!"

"Let me go!" Lu Hong shouted, "Do you know what you’re doing?"

Lu Hong’s scolding held no intimidation for Piao Miao, who took out a magic device resembling a syringe from her Space Ring, "This is a specially crafted magic tool that can completely strip away a bloodline. But don’t worry, this method of extraction won’t be very painful. It’s just a slight sting, a sting, that’s all."

"You!" Lu Hong tried to speak, but the ice crystals creeping up his face froze over his mouth.

After a major battle, Lu Hong was already weak, and facing a Third Transition Peak Piao Miao, he had no room to resist.

Thus, the syringe plunged harshly into Lu Hong’s heart. As Piao Miao watched excitedly, Lu Hong felt his body convulse, his physique rapidly declining, as his Lionheart bloodline shot through with gold was continuously drained from his body.

With a vial of bloodline extracted, Lu Hong fell to the ground unconscious. Piao Miao happily pocketed this hard-won gift.

After all, obtaining the Lionheart bloodline was a challenging feat—firstly, only a few lions in the Beastman Empire possessed it, and secondly, you had to be able to defeat them. For a Lionheart bloodline stranded abroad, Piao Miao would not miss this opportunity, even if it meant facing Caesar’s assassination attempts later. Moreover, if she dealt with Lu Hong, who else would know about it?

With a wave of her hand, Piao Miao blasted a deep pit in the ground, then took out the Black Pupil Command from Lu Hong’s ring and kicked Lu Hong, now a block of ice, down into it.

Motivated by magic power, the pit slowly filled in. Piao Miao meticulously covered her tracks until no signs of disturbance were visible, then, satisfied, she left.