Chapter 232: Demonic Blood Lotus

“Don’t kill me, please spare me…”

Chen Yan implored in horror as Xiao Chou walked toward him like a ruthless God of Slaughter.

He was simply too powerful. Even though they were both at Half-Step Soul Formation Stage, it was a completely one-sided beating.

But Chen Yan did not want to die. He finally reached this step after a long and painstaking journey, just one more step and he would be a Soul Formation Stage cultivator. When that time arrived, his lifespan would increase to over ten thousand years. He couldn’t just die here!

“If you spare me, I’ll tell you the location of the Demonic Blood Lotus. The Demonic Blood Lotus is almost fully grown. Once it matures, it’ll be a second-rank immortal ingredient, the consumption of which would drastically improve your cultivation base.” Chen Yan knew that if he wanted a chance at survival, he would have to offer up his most prized possession.

As expected, Xiao Chou’s eyes lit up at his words. “OK, then tell me, where’s the Demonic Blood Lotus being kept?”

“You have to swear a Heavenly Dao Oath first, then I’ll tell you,” Chen Yan replied.

Xiao Chou nodded and immediately began to swear an oath, “I swear that if Chen Yan discloses the location of the Demonic Blood Lotus to me, I’ll do no further harm to him. If I go back on this oath, then I’ll be blasted by lightning from heaven and my Dao Heart would immediately crumble.”

Chen Yan breathed a sigh of relief after Xiao Chou swore his oath and began to disclose the location of the Demonic Blood Lotus.

Xiao Chou smiled and nodded as he took in the information before raising his head to look up at the sky.

Chen Yan also followed his gaze and looked up in confusion. He then saw a black streak flying through the air…

In the next instant, An Lin had already landed and was stowing his sword away.

“You…”

Chen Yan’s eyes were in a bloodshot state, his expression full of remorse and rage.

But a lethal red line of blood had already appeared on his neck.

Thump!

His head fell to the ground as blood gushed forth from his decapitated corpse.

Chen Yan finally realized at the moment before he died that he had been swindled, but it was all too late.

Yes, Xiao Chou had sworn an oath to do no harm to him, but other people could kill him in his stead. To An Lin, assassinating a Half-Step Soul Formation Stage cultivator on the brink of death was far too simple a task.

Liu Hu and Liu Susu were even more respectful toward An Lin after witnessing him decapitating the most powerful cultivator of the Heavenly Cloud Palace. But at the same time, they were feeling quite thrilled at Chen Yan’s death after seeing for themselves the darkness hidden in this evil organization.

“Xiao Chou, lead the way to the Demonic Blood Lotus.”

After taking care of the evil cultivators of the Heavenly Cloud Sect, An Lin retrieved Chen Yan’s storage ring and continued on to their main objective.

The main reason why he came here was to find the Demonic Blood Lotus as it would be vitally important to his mission in killing the Ant Queen.

Xiao Chou flew toward the mountains of bones and retrieved all nine of the black badges on them. He then came to the southeast region of the Heavenly Cloud Palace and punched a hole into the ground, where the passageway to an underground chamber awaited them.

In the center of the underground chamber was a huge formation disk. Xiao Chou placed the nine badges each in different places on the formation disk, and the formation disk began to tremble violently.

“The black blood lotus badges swallow the flesh and consciousness of cultivators which are then transported to the Demonic Blood Lotus in the underground chamber as fertilizer through a spell formation.” An Lin looked up slowly at the rising platform while he recited the information he had received from the Ziwei Pavilion in the Heavenly Court, “However, even if the Demonic Blood Lotus was to awaken, the people of the Heavenly Cloud Palace wouldn’t have any way of using the flower anyway. The flower is not a gift presented by the Ant Queen to the Heavenly Cloud Palace as a gesture of goodwill. The Ant Queen is just using them as farmers to tend to the flower…”

A vibrant red lotus sat on the platform, emitting a strange aroma that was irresistibly alluring to those who caught a whiff of its scent.

Liu Hu and Liu Susu, who had the weakest cultivation bases, were completely unable to shift their gaze away from the flower while a dreamy smile of contentment appeared on their faces.

“Damn, the alluring qualities of the flower are almost comparable to Xiao Hong.” An Lin’s expression shifted slightly as he nodded in praise.

A fit of violent rustling suddenly came from his pocket, as if to express discontentment.

“Alright, alright… From the perspective of who is more alluring, the lotus flower cannot even begin to compare to you.” An Lin immediately corrected himself.

The rustling in his pocket grew even more violent, seemingly even more incensed by his correction.

“Big Brother An, what you should be telling Big Sister Hong now is that she’s completely different from all the promiscuous sluts out there and that her beauty is like a refreshing breath of fresh air in comparison, woof!” Da Bai suddenly spoke.

Sure enough, An Lin’s pocket ceased rustling at Da Bai’s words.

Da Bai looked at An Lin with a sly smirk and an expression of a seasoned womanizer.

An Lin: “…”

Even so, An Lin would definitely not concede that he was inferior to a dog when it came to understanding a woman’s heart.

He did not ponder the issue any further and departed on his brick after stowing the Demonic Blood Lotus away into his storage ring.

Everyone left the now dilapidated Heavenly Cloud Palace and flew elsewhere.

Liu Hu and Liu Susu all fell into silence after expressing their gratitude toward An Lin for saving their lives.

They were completely at a loss for what to do in the future. Their family had been slaughtered, so they decided to participate in the Ant Tribe extermination operations organized by a reputable sect, but what greeted them instead was the insidious scam that was the Heavenly Cloud Palace. With the destruction of the Heavenly Cloud Palace, they had lost their target and did not know where to go next.

“My apologies. I used you two to lead me to the Heavenly Cloud Palace so that I can sneak in, placing both of you in perilous danger in the process,” An Lin suddenly apologized.

Liu Hu and Liu Susu were both taken aback by An Lin’s words, clearly not expecting him to apologize for something like this.

“You have nothing to apologize for, Senior An Lin. If it wasn’t for your assistance, my daughter and I would be food for the ants by now. On top of that, it’s an honor for us to help you exterminate those evil cultivators,” Liu Hu replied respectfully.

These were words straight from the bottom of his heart anyway. The Ant Tribe epidemic had resulted in countless deaths throughout the Heavenly River State, and it was simply unthinkable that there would be sects willing to cooperate with the Ant Queen at a time like this. They were actually quite happy to have been able to play a part in eliminating such scum.

An Lin nodded a little sheepishly before posing a question to them, “Do you still plan on joining a resistance against the Ant Tribe? There’s one being organized by the Wen Valley Immortal Sect of the Heavenly River State.”

“Wen Valley Immortal Sect…” Liu Hu’s eyes widened in shock, “Isn’t that the number one immortal sect in the Black Stone Prefecture!”

“That’s correct, I have some history with one of the elders there.” A reminiscent expression appeared on An Lin’s face.

The figure of a woman who had once struggled resiliently through an endless expanse of darkness surfaced in his mind.

“How about it, do you two want to go there? If you do, I can take you there,” An Lin asked again.

The two of them immediately grabbed the opportunity with both hands.

An Lin did not say anything more and began to fly toward the Abyss of Evil with the father and daughter duo in tow.

At the border of the Abyss of Evil was the center of the Ant Tribe resistance movement.