The Prodigies War
chapter-1371

Lin Xun pondered and said, “Alright. You have half a year. If you don’t come to the Forbidden City and find me within this period, then I’ll go to the Dao Burial Sea Mound to look for you.”

Even though Lin Xun was now a seventh longevity Supreme King, a bizarre place like the Dao Burial Sea Mound still made him uneasy as he was unable to see through it.

That place was home to mysteries and uncertainties.

“Don’t worry, I grew up in that hellhole. Well then, I’m off!” Toady waved his hand with a grin and leaped up into the sky. His green robe fluttered in the wind, looking unrestrained as he disappeared into the horizon.

“Show off!” Zhao Jingxuan laughed.

Lin Xun couldn’t help but smile as well. Toady had always been like this.

Now that only she and Lin Xun were left on the treasure ship, Zhao Jingxuan seemed to hesitate about something.

“When we return to the Forbidden City, do you want to see my parents?” she still asked in the end, her eyes fidgety.

She was like a beautiful goddess from a painting, her face was fair and delicate, and her long black hair was fluttering in the wind.

Stunned, Lin Xun said, “Of course. I still need to ask for Uncle Zhao’s advice about some things.”

“Mhm,” muttered Zhao Jingxuan. She didn’t say anything more.

Lin Xun suddenly grabbed her jade-like hands and said seriously, “Jingxuan, I want to wait for Xia Zhi to return first before considering the matter of us. Well, you also know that her character has always been quite special. If…”

Zhao Jingxuan cut him off, “No need to explain. I understand.”

Her fair, pretty face burned as she slightly lowered her head, not daring to meet Lin Xun’s gaze. His sudden action had caught her off guard, and she stiffened a little as her hands were still grabbed in his.

As far as she knew, this was the first time that he had been so proactive…

Lin Xun keenly noticed that her ears had been dyed with a lovely rosy hue. Her eyelashes slightly fluttered, clearly showing that their owner was a little nervous right now.

Lin Xun suddenly felt an impulse, and he decided to follow it. He leaned forward and dropped a kiss on Zhao Jingxuan’s forehead.

Zhao Jingxuan instantly froze, and her eyes widened. It felt as if her heart had been zapped by an electric current. She just stood there in a daze like a lost gosling.

Lin Xun couldn’t help but laugh. He didn’t expect that someone as carefree as Zhao Jingxuan would have such a cute side to her.

Bang!

Suddenly freeing her hands, Zhao Jingxuan slapped Lin Xun on the chest and shyly said, “Why are you laughing? Is it that funny?”

Lin Xun hastily straightened his lips and said in a serious manner, “Not funny, not funny at all.”

Throwing him a glare, Zhao Jingxuan couldn’t help but laugh as well and scolded him, “So it turns out that you are just as…shameless!”

With that, she rushed into the cabin with a bright red face.

Lin Xun burst out laughing again. Shameless? Would I still be a man if I didn’t start taking the initiative at times like these?

……

After the time it took for an incense stick to burn, Lin Xun finally saw for himself the turmoil within the Ziyao Empire.

There was a village scarred with devastation. There were corpses all over the place with old and young people, women and children…

Their deaths were tragic as they were either disemboweled or dismembered. Some had their hearts dug out from their chests, and some were left with a broken skull…

Under the glow of sunset, the vultures descended from the sky and gnawed on the carrion. On the branches of the trees, a few crows hissed.

The Grand Universe Ark stopped over this village. Standing at the bow, Lin Xun looked down below and could instantly tell the villagers had been killed by demonic beasts.

Even though he was accustomed to seeing death, he still couldn’t help but frown to see innocent commoners suffer such a bloody massacre. A cold glint flashed in his eyes.

Boom!

With a wave of Lin Xun’s sleeve, a raging fire flared out of nowhere and turned all the corpses on the ground into ashes that scattered with the wind.

Not long after the two left the village, the outline of a city appeared in their vision.

But even from afar, Lin Xun could see the sky-piercing aura of blood mixed with monstrous demonic qi.

He recalled what Changsun Xiong had told him: “Over the past several years, due to the drastic changes in heaven and earth, many demonic beasts have appeared in the empire. Rampaging, killing and pillaging, there is no evil deed that they haven’t done. This has become the empire’s biggest internal problem as many cities have been invaded by monsters!”

“It seems that the problem is more serious than I thought…” Lin Xun frowned.

“Let’s go take a look.” Zhao Jingxuan had left the cabin at some point and stood next to Lin Xun, her expression icy.

“Good,” agreed Lin Xun.

With a whoosh, the ark sped toward the city and arrived just a few moments later.

The city walls had long crumbled and were stained with scarlet blood.

Thousands of corpses were piled up near the walls, vaguely recognizable to be from human cultivators.

Lin Xun couldn’t help but picture the scene of countless demonic beasts rampaging toward the city like a tidal wave, and the cultivators in the city fighting hard, but it was all futile and they were mercilessly killed.

And then, the city was invaded.

People fled, and people were killed.

“Those damned beasts!” Zhao Jingxuan clenched her fists, and her eyes flared with murderous intent.

As the first princess of the Ziyao Empire, her fury could be imagined when she saw such a scene.

“Let's check inside the city.” Lin Xun patted her shoulder comfortingly.

Putting away the Grand Universe Ark, the two entered the city and were greeted with cold and quiet streets.

The buildings tightly lined up in a row had collapsed and were devoid of life.

In the streets and alleys, corpses lying in pools of blood could be seen everywhere. The entire city seemed to have become a scarlet hell.

Zhao Jingxuan couldn’t take it anymore and said murderously, “Are those cultivator armies of the empire dead? How could they let this happen?!”

“Or maybe the scourge created by the monsters is more serious than we imagined,” Lin Xun analyzed. “Not to mention that the borderlands are still suffering from the aggression of the Brute Warriors. Having to deal with both internal and external troubles at the same time, I’m afraid that the imperial army will need a long time to smooth out the situation.”

Zhao Jingxuan admitted that what Lin Xun said was reasonable, but she was still unable to control her fury.

The Ziyao Empire was like a home to her. How could she not be angry to witness its tragedy?

“Let’s go and vent it out.” Lin Xun noticed her bad mood. He grabbed her hand and rushed into the inner circle of the city.

……

At a mansion covering an area of twenty thousand acres in the southwest area of the city.

Filled with pavilions, ponds, and buildings, as well as an herb garden, an aeth field, and a bubbling aeth spring that watered the surrounding plants and trees, this picturesque mansion had been the residence of a large family.

But at the moment, it had long been in ruin, with burnt marks and traces that resulted from ransacking being everywhere.

Crack! Crack!

A group of golden-furred giant rats were gnawing on bones, looking hideously ferocious with their sharp fangs covered in blood.

On another side, a group of monsters in human form were moving goods, from pill-refining cauldrons to amazingly valuable furnishing decorations.

“Hurry! We must return to the mountain before sunset! Take all you can!” shouted an ugly and shifty thin youth in a gorgeous robe.

“Hehe, teenage girls are still the most savory with the most tender skin and flesh.” A hedgehog-like monster was lying on one side, holding a white and tender arm as white as a lotus root. Blood dripped from its mouth as it savored the arm.

“Wrong, infants are the most delicious. Their meat is pure and clean, simply a supreme delicacy,” commented seriously a small monster with a leopard’s head next to the hedgehog.

This was what Lin Xun and Zhao Jingxuan saw as they arrived.

Even though Lin Xun was used to cruelty and tragedies, he still felt a killing intent rising in his heart.

As for Zhao Jingxuan, she seemed to be in disbelief. Her face instantly darkened, and her eyes were icy cold.

“Huh, we have guests!” shouted the leopard-headed monster.

Many gazes immediately gathered on Lin Xun and Zhao Jingxuan.

“Cultivators!”

The eyes of the thin youth in the gorgeous robe narrowed in surprise. They had slaughtered this city many days ago and occupied it, so he hadn’t expected that some humans would dare to appear here!

“What a pretty chick. I wonder how her flesh tastes…” The hedgehog-like monster stared at Zhao Jingxuan, almost drooling,

Before it could finish, Zhao Jingxuan had already made her move!

The rage within her completely erupted in this instant, and she emitted a terrifying aura that spread and covered the entire mansion.

“You animals deserve death!” Her face was covered in frost as she stressed every word.

With a rumble, a sky full of lightning struck down at the monsters without fail under her control.

The result was without suspense.

Just the overwhelming might of the second longevity stage emanating from her already pressured the minds of the monsters into collapsing. They could only shiver in fear, unable to use an ounce of power to resist, let alone escape.

In the end, except for the gorgeously dressed youth, the rest of the monsters were blown to nothingness.

However, Zhao Jingxuan’s face was still cold as if her hatred had yet to be alleviated.

“Who is your leader?” Lin Xun interrogated, but the youth had fallen to his knees with an ashen face, so frightened that he couldn’t even speak.

“Master, let me.” Little Silver appeared and entered the youth’s mind.

A moment later, Little Silver swept out and said, “These animals are underlings of a self-proclaimed ‘Flame Vine King’ who has occupied a large mountain three thousand miles away from this city, with thirty thousand monsters under his command…”

Little Silver quickly said everything it got on the ‘Flame Vine King.’

Poof!

Having gotten what he needed, Lin Xun didn’t hesitate to kill the youth, who then revealed his true form to be a stripe-faced gray fox.

“Shall we go and meet this Flame Vine King?” Lin Xun looked at Zhao Jingxuan.