Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Blood Flag narrowed his eyes but his expression remained calm, "Jiang Chengzi, you have disappointed me today."

Opposite him, Jiang Chengzi had all his armor on him. He stood in an imposing manner, "Blood Flag, you intercepted the army at the capital border. Even with your status, you need to be aware of the consequences."

Blood Flag smirked and he wore a mocking look, "It seems that I left the border army too long ago; I don't have a solid impression on all of you…if I didn't dare to block you, would I have shown myself here?"

As soon as he said this, he stepped forward. The round table and chair, including the tea set, were instantly smashed by a powerful force and were turned into a bloody cloud of dust.

There was a painful mourning in the air and it sounded like the despair of millions of dead creatures. Anyone who heard the cries would feel a chill down their spine.

Violent and murderous auras tumbled forward like a flooded river bursting with water rushing in all directions! When the water reached ten feet away, it was twisted into a blood mist by an invisible force and it turned into a huge blood knife that slashed down.

Air and space seemed to have lost its natural movement as it was split by the sword. Everything was silent when the sword slashed right before them!

Jiang Chengzi's eyes narrowed and with a shout, he threw a punch forward. This fist was covered by the golden metal of his armor and it slammed against the blood knife.

In the next moment, a thunderous explosion boomed through the air and lightning flashed through the sky. The impact of the blow formed a ring-shaped invisible force field that spread out. As solid Great Dao shattered, dust and dirt rolled through the area.

The old general stood his ground against Blood Flag's blow. On the surface, he still looked as majestic as a god.

However, Jiang Chengzi's expression suddenly fell and a look of surprise and rage crossed his face, "You succeeded…Hundred Saint, run!"

His shout was enhanced by his cultivation and Hundred Saint heard him word for word. He continued bounding for the capital as he pulled Qin Yu along with him.

Blood Flag was famous and Hundred Saint knew what the consequences of facing him would be. Fear rushed up his chest.

He was a mad man and once he grew mad, he would not hold back anything.

This was the reason why Blood Flag was transferred out of the army to the capital. If not for this, he would have become one of the giants in the army and one of the most powerful and influential people in the West Desolate.

Before they escaped, Jiang Chengzi reminded him to protect himself. He must have expected this.

Suddenly, an explosive force boomed through the air, stopping Hundred Saint in his tracks.

Filled with horror and annoyance, Hundred Saint desperately wanted to rush to the capital. He felt a sharp pain from his bones and his face instantly turned green.

He whipped around angrily and glared at Qin Yu. Just as he was about to question Qin Yu on what he was doing, his body suddenly shivered and his eyes shone with anger. A blood-colored void appeared in front of him. The insides of the void circled and tumbled, looking like a large bloody mouth.

Hundred Saint felt icy coldness and a sharp killing intent from the void. The hair on his back stood on its ends.

If Qin Yu had not sensed the danger and forced them to stop, they would have headed straight into the void.

Although Hundred Saint did not know what the void was, it was easy to see that he would face a terrible outcome if he was sucked into it.

He knew all along that Blood Flag was a mad man, but once he realized that Blood Flag would not hesitate to kill them, Hundred Saint felt absolutely terrible. It felt like a bucket of cold water was poured on him and his bones turned to ice.

Clap clap!

Blood Flag wore an evil grin as he clapped his hands and walked out of the void. His eyes were curled into a smile but there was a hint of disappointment on his face. He had not expected that his two prey would manage to escape his trap.

"Darkness Ruler?"

Hidden beneath the black robe, Qin Yu calmly asked, "We hold no grudges between us and we do not have any animosity now. Why do you want to kill me?"

Blood Flag shook his head, "I know that it has not been easy to reach your cultivation rank today, but with so much experience, why do you bother asking useless questions?" His eyes lit up and the aura around him grew more domineering, "Not everything in this world requires a reason. I want to kill you…that's why I came."

Qin Yu frowned and he sighed softly.

He thought about it from the other perspective. If he was the other person in the capital who was qualified enough to contest for that seat, he would definitely hold on to any chance to eliminate Li Zhouyi.

As such, Qin Yu knew from the start that Blood Flag was here to kill him. He only asked the pointless question because he wanted to take the opportunity to judge how strong Blood Flag was and make some preparations.

It was a pity that the outcome was not favorable to him. Qin Yu could confirm that Blood Flag was not a Ruler. With Qin Yu's current cultivation rank, he could sense the bottleneck over Blood Flag's head in terms of breaking through to the realm of Ruler.

The bottleneck over Blood Flag's head was thin and he might break through very soon. Somehow, he was still stuck below it.

If he was not a Ruler, Qin Yu had no reason to fear him…however, Qin Yu felt an immense threat from Blood Flag - it was the desire for blood and death!

There were only two possibilities for this. One was that Blood Flag had a very strong hidden card that would unleash insurmountable power. The second was that Blood Flag had a way to raise his cultivation rank in an outburst and become a Ruler in a short amount of time.

Qin Yu was leaning towards the second possibility.

If he only had a hidden card, there was no reason for Blood Flag to be so haughty. Unless it was a hidden card that could be reused multiple times, then that could explain his confidence and boldness to stop the group and kill them.

However, if it was this, was Blood Flag fearless of the investigation and consequences from the capital later on?

After all, looking at Hundred Saint's face, it was evident that Blood Flag had committed a severe crime by stopping the army to kill them.

"He is not afraid of the consequences!" Hundred Saint's voice rang in his ear, "Blood Flag has a complicated background. You can understand it as even the army has to tolerate his behavior. This extends to the Imperial Palace too.

"If we die today, no one will avenge us…do you understand? We cannot die like this!"

Qin Yu raised his eyes beneath the black robe. Under such dire circumstances, don't you want to just abandon me and run? Even if we are on good terms, I have never heard of anyone who would bet their own life.

As though he felt the surprised look from the pair of eyes under the black robe, Hundred Saint's lips quivered. He gritted his teeth and said, "If I could escape by myself, I would not hesitate to do so, but it is too late. Blood Flag has locked his sight on you and me; we are now his prey…Blood Flag has never allowed any of his prey to escape!"

Kaboom!

Terrifying explosions boomed continuously behind them and the ground shook slightly.

Jiang Chengzi's opponent was Blood Flag and he was also who Qin Yu and Hundred Saint had to face.

The aura was the same and the danger and threat felt the same too. Qin Yu sighed to himself. The Desolate Area was truly unordinary, he had never seen such a measure before.

As for what Hundred Saint said…Qin Yu did not feel overwhelmed by it. It wasn't that he was very confident in taking on Blood Flag. Instead, Qin Yu had sensed the determination for murder from the cold and ruthless killing intent within the void from the start.

Blood Flag was very strong and he might even be stronger than the Ruler who descended to the Transcendent Sword Sect back then. However, Qin Yu was never one to wait for his own death. As such, he would only fight for his life.

The only good thing was that Qin Yu was now stronger with the Darkness Crown. Also, with Eye of Eternal Night, he was much more powerful.

Because of this, Qin Yu merely frowned under the black hood. His eyes remained calm.

Blood Flag sensed Qin Yu's calmness and a look of admiration crossed his face. Yet, his eyes grew colder and more determined. They were like two sharp knives that could cut through Qin Yu and pin him down on the ground.

"I thought that my only fortune today was to fight Jiang Chengzi. I didn't think that I would get another find…how wonderful!"

Boom!

The blood void suddenly exploded. A powerful suction force emerged from within it and the void spun rapidly.

Qin Yu grabbed Hundred Saint and threw him aside forcefully. If this guy died here, even if he died at the hands of Blood Flag, he would only be a huge hassle. After all, the target of the attack was him.

Protecting Hundred Saint also meant doing a favor to him and the backing behind him. For Qin Yu, who was a foreigner in the complicated West Desolate, he might get an unexpected gain from this action.

Of course, this hinged upon him surviving this day. If he was killed here…whether or not Hundred Saint survived was not important.

As he knelt on the ground, a look of apology crossed Hundred Saint's face. The thought of running away by himself did cross his mind just now…his eyes flickered with hesitation before he shouted a warning, "Be very careful. Blood Flag's most powerful measure is that he can control your consciousness!"

Qin Yu's eyes flashed and he stepped forward. A deafening sound came as the earth cracked and collapsed below Qin Yu's feet.

The black robe he wore was pulled by the strong suction force and it looked like a long slab of iron that pointed towards the blood void. There were cracking sounds in the air as cracks appeared beneath Qin Yu's feet.

He could not take it any longer!

If this continued, he would only burn more strength. In the end, he would not be able to avoid being pulled into the blood void.

Once Qin Yu came to this conclusion, there was a look of hesitation in his eyes. He breathed in deeply and then a look of determination filled his face.

Boom!

The ground beneath him shattered and he stomped forward. None of this was important with regards to defending himself against the devouring power of the void. Instead, using the rebounding force as he stomped on the ground, he shot forward into the air like an arrow and entered the blood void.

His own speed, coupled with the suction force of the void made his body fly through the air at an unimaginable speed. Qin Yu was like a big boulder that dropped down and the impact as he hit the void caused it to distort and twist.

Blood Flag's face turned slightly pale and he muttered, "Interesting. However, a little courage will not harm me…you will only end up sacrificing yourself."

Kaboom!

After the void swallowed Qin Yu, it spun much faster and its aura grew thicker. It felt like it was a machine that churned up blood and flesh, so powerful that it could grind an entire mountain.

However, right at that point, Blood Flag's eyes narrowed as though he sensed something. Suddenly, there was a speck of darkness in the void. Like a droplet of ink in clear water, it dispersed rapidly.

Soon, the centre of the blood void was filled with darkness. However, after crossing this point, the diffusion speed decreased severely as though it was being suppressed by a powerful force.

When Hundred Saint saw this, he felt relieved. He was most worried about Qin Yu being killed. If that happened, regardless of what happened to Blood Flag as s consequence, Hundred Saint would not be spared.

Without hesitation, Hundred Saint turned and fled towards the capital at an astonishing speed.

It was already a great offence to conduct a battle at the Capital Border Area. Even Blood Flag could not do as he pleased.

That mad man would not want to die either!

It was sensitive a topic for powerful individuals to take action within the capital.

Regardless of whether the intention was to protect the Imperial Palace or to send a warning by killing others, battles would not be tolerated.

Past events were enough to prove this.

As such, Hundred Saint knew very well that battles at the Capital Border Area were the threshold of what could be tolerated. If he returned to the capital, no one would dare to touch him.

Suddenly, Hundred Saint's expression fell. He was maintaining a high speed as he fled and he did not try to avoid attacks because he felt that his aura had been locked onto. There was no way out for him.

Grumbling to himself, Hundred Saint took out a jade ornament and smashed it in his hands. A majestic force rose up behind him and formed a defensive shield.

Suddenly, a blood-colored palm print appeared behind him and smashed directly on his body.

There was a hollow boom as his body was thrown downwards heavily onto the ground. Mud and dirt was drilled through by his body ploughing down.

Right then, a shrill sound split the air and Hundred Saint spat out blood as he flew out of the ground and dashed towards the capital. There was surprise and fear in his eyes, but he also admired Blood Flag to a greater degree.

A simple hand caused so much power. If he had not used the life-saving tool, he would have been reduced to a pile of flesh and bones.

Blood Flag was truly as terrifying as the rumors said.

Darkness Ruler, this is all I can do for you. You have to rely on yourself in order to leave.

Boom!

Strong winds cut through the air and surrounded Hundred Saint as he sped into the distance.

Blood Flag glanced at him before turning his attention back to the void where another circle of darkness had appeared. He frowned and suppressed the murderous intent in his heart. One of his prey escaped and he was also of the Imperial Clan bloodline who Blood Flag was interested in. This made Blood Flag disappointed, but as long as he could kill the Darkness Ruler, it would be good enough for today.

It was a severe offense to kill others by the Capital Border Area and this was something Blood Flag knew well.

Some people would come over soon and he did not have much time left.

What a pity. If this was somewhere else, he would be able to play around with the Darkness Ruler as he pleased. The Darkness Ruler had a good grasp of dark energy.

Smirking to himself, Blood Flag let go of the tightness in his chest. The darkness in the void had the passion of a prisoner who was escaping. It instantly tried to dye the void black.