Chapter 258 – My Lord, A Crow Feather!

“No Style…”

The proud and noble King of Ancient Brent softly uttered these two words.

His slender index finger traced over the gradually healing wound inch by inch, as if savoring the lingering sensation of that move.

“The precursor to a hundred styles.”

Black wings unfolded behind Lu Yuan, surrounded by a faint death energy; he had completely returned to his normal state.

However, a faint golden hue still lingered in his eyes, and he was vaguely immersed in an indescribable marvelous state.

No Style, the precursor to a hundred styles.

In the urgent countdown of his [demon] form, combined with his max level lv3 [Undefeated Instinct] in battle consciousness and the state triggered by lv2 [A Moment of Inspiration], Lu Yuan’s comprehension reached an unprecedented peak.

He attempted to merge all the super killer moves, killer moves, and various other active attack skills he had learned.

To form a unique move that surpassed super killer moves.

And then he failed.

But he also succeeded.

He failed in realizing that this was an impossible goal.

No one could unify the different skills from different panels into one.

At least not at his current stage, even if his comprehension increased tenfold.

The success lay in… Lu Yuan finding a new approach—

If a complete merge was impossible, then he would just take a part of each move, one small part, or even… a single point.

Even if he couldn’t take a single point, he would trace the origin of the move until he got that one point.

And then.

Thus was born this finishing skill.

Lu Yuan’s chest filled with a faint sense of pride and joy.

Not just because the success of [No Style] broke through King of Ancient Brent’s defense and passed the test, humiliating him.

But also because the process of deriving this move allowed him to glimpse a domain of skills beyond super killer moves, offering him many…brand new, higher-level martial arts ideas.

“[Martial Deity Records] is no longer a mere fantasy. Perhaps one day… I can truly bring it to fruition.”

Lu Yuan thought to himself, as a flood of inspiration and ideas surged through his mind.

“Not a bad move.”

The handsome man finished savoring the aftertaste of [No Style], and his wounds also healed.

He looked at Lu Yuan with admiration and said, “You’ve come close to transcending mortal skills, which is extremely rare for someone like you at this moment.”

Though his words were meant to be complimentary, they somehow sounded off to Lu Yuan.

The small pride and joy that had filled his heart quickly dissipated as if doused by cold water.

Lu Yuan furrowed his brows, took a deep breath, and calmly said to the handsome man, “Give me another chance. Let’s go one more time.”

“Hmm?”

The handsome man looked puzzled, “Why? You’ve already passed my test. It’s time for you to claim your reward…”

Lu Yuan shook his head, “But I still want another go. This time, aiming at your face. Your smug look is really unbearable…”

“…”

…

“Ugh, ugh…”

Some kilometers away from the battlefield, in a distant location, members of Xie Jun’s team were just recovering from the bewilderment and confusion brought by that gold light cutting across their vision.

They then saw Lu Yuan, who had reverted to his normal appearance.

Then…

“Bang!”

Their minds completely blew apart.

All the accumulated doubts, speculations, and denials now turned into reality.

They had been watching for so long.

A pure martial artist, first tearing apart an emissary level Crowman with his bare hands, then forcibly crushing another while being surrounded by four emissary level Crowmen.

Then, battling the seemingly invincible man that emerged from the black colossal egg, and finally injuring him…

Such an ultimate monster, which they had long deemed him to be in their minds.

It was Lu Yuan?!

The very Lu Yuan who had refused to join their team, whom they privately discussed as “a newbie who knows nothing,” “a rich kid who got in through connections,” “a burden that would drag everyone down,”? The Divine Blood Lu Yuan?!

“Having a newbie who knows nothing in our team will greatly lower our success rate for this mission!”

“I don’t want our entire team babysitting someone!”

“Haha, it’s good that kid didn’t join us. Otherwise, this mission wouldn’t have gone so smoothly.”

“Once we complete the task… we can give him a hand, just for Old Song’s sake.”

“…”

The words they had once spoken about Lu Yuan now churned endlessly in their minds, with every sentence and scene flooding back.

At a certain moment.

The three who were left standing dumbfounded—Xie Jun and his team—seemed to see a giant hand suddenly appear in the air before them.

“Whoosh—”

Whistling as it came down, delivering a resounding slap to their faces.

Their heads buzzed with the impact, and their cheeks felt as though they had been branded with a hot iron, scorching and burning.

…

“Uh…”

Han Xun stood in mid-air, fixedly watching the two figures conversing in the distance.

But his eyes were glued to the handsome man’s chest, where the evil energy gauge registered a series of question marks, and the wound was clearly visible.

“He’s hurt…”

Han Xun was in a daze.

“How… did he do it? Why…”

The fleeting golden light that he had seen earlier continually flashed in his mind.

Each time he recalled it, an inexplicable tremor seemed to surge in his heart.

He tried to put himself in the shoes of either of the two figures in the distance.

But no matter how many times he replayed it in his mind.

Changing places.

The result seemed to be the same every time—

“Whoosh—”

“Whoosh—”

Han Xun took deep breaths, repeatedly loosening and tightening his grip on the icy blue long blade in his right hand.

Finally, a trace of complexity and dejection rose in his eyes.

…

The handsome man looked somewhat startled at Lu Yuan.

Seeing Lu Yuan’s serious expression, as if he would really use [No Style] on his face in the next moment.

For the first time, the handsome man displayed a smile.

“Next time.”

He said softly.

Then he fully relaxed, and his figure began to gradually descend.

The whirlpool of stagnant death energy in the atmosphere seemed to start moving once again, as an endless flow of black death energy converged towards him.

Lu Yuan felt the changes around him and was slightly startled. He frowned, unsure about what tricks the man before him was up to.

Suddenly…

He saw the handsome man, descending until he was level with Lu Yuan’s feet, kneel down quietly.

With one hand covering his chest in a posture akin to that of a loyal subject, he bowed his head and said softly, “My Lord.”

“??!”

Lu Yuan was thunderstruck, standing frozen on the spot.

Countless exclamation points and question marks flashed through his mind in an instant.

The only thought in his head was: What the hell! Is this what the crow deity left me? A human-shaped pet?

Although this guy is really powerful… I definitely don’t want someone more ostentatious than myself around!!

Fortunately.

Lu Yuan’s worries proved to be unfounded.

The King of Ancient Brent, in his humble posture, after saying “My Lord,” lifted his head and gently tore open his chest with both hands.

A dark, concentrated light radiated from within.

Lu Yuan’s gaze was instantly drawn to it.

He saw-

Inside the chest of the King of Ancient Brent, quietly suspended… a feather.

A crow’s feather.

Black and as deep as the night.

This feather emitted a dense black light, filling the entire chest cavity of the King of Ancient Brent like a network of veins and blood vessels.

The King of Ancient Brent reached into his chest and gently extracted the feather.

Holding it with both hands, he presented it to Lu Yuan.

“My Lord. I have lingered too long by the banks of the Styx. I hear the call of the underworld’s bells, see its shadow; the gates of the underworld are opening for me…”

He murmured softly, as if recounting a long-held longing.

Lu Yuan seemed not to hear, his entire focus captivated by the black feather in front of him.

In a daze, he reached out and took the feather.

He felt no weight. Holding it, it seemed as though it was merely a void.

As he lifted the feather, the King of Ancient Brent began to disintegrate gradually.

Like a piece of burnt paper crumbling into ash, he disintegrated inch by inch in the breeze, transforming into a surge of black death energy.

Joining the massive vortex of death energy in the sky, it rapidly enveloped and surrounded Lu Yuan.

“Follow in His footsteps, My Lord. He said… He’s waiting for you…”

With these final words, the King of Ancient Brent smiled at Lu Yuan before completely dispersing in the wind.

“You!”

Lu Yuan instinctively reached out to grab him.

But all he could catch was a handful of black sand.

The sand slipped through his fingers in the blink of an eye.

“Uh…”

Lu Yuan stood there in a daze, unable to comprehend how someone with such immense power could simply vanish in an instant.

“Was all his Strength… given by this feather?”

Lu Yuan suddenly realized, and instinctively looked down at the black feather in his hand.

But he found his hand empty.

The black Crow Feather had somehow moved to his chest.

It clung to his skin, melting into it bit by bit.

At the same time, unfamiliar memories started flooding Lu Yuan’s mind.

More and more, growing increasingly intense.

The vast amounts of black death energy in the air also began to envelop him, desperately drilling into his body.

Lu Yuan’s face twisted in pain, and he couldn’t help but clutch his head.

Through the swirling chaos, he seemed to see someone approaching him.

“Don’t freaking mistake me for an evil deity’s minion and kill me! I’m a law-abiding citizen!”

With the last shred of clarity in his mind, Lu Yuan thought to himself, grabbed something, and fiercely threw it in the direction of the approaching figure.

Then…

The world plunged into complete darkness.

…

“!”

Han Xun was stunned.

He witnessed the stronger of the two figures—one whose power far exceeded his own level—suddenly kneel before the other.

Then he saw him tear open his own chest and pull out a void…

In an instant, he disintegrated into the air.

Han Xun hadn’t even recovered from the shocking scene before him when he noticed that the black death energy drifting within the Wailing Ruins secret realm started converging in a single direction.

Like an unstoppable tide, all of the death energy flowed into the young man who had survived the battle.

The latter was suspended in midair, eyes tightly shut, expressionless.

A vast amount of death energy condensed around him, manifesting into a luxurious, noble, and ancient armor.

An aura of supreme grandeur and terror emanated from him.

This presence gave Han Xun the same feeling he got when facing top-tier beings within Yellow Bear.

It felt as though he was in the presence of a supreme sovereign, instilling an almost irresistible urge to kneel and worship.

Below, Xie Jun and the other two had already dropped to their knees.

Their foreheads were pressed tightly to the ground, their bodies trembling violently.

Han Xun gritted his teeth, suppressing the overwhelming impulse, and began to walk forward step by step.

His experience as a four-winged Flying Bear allowed him to roughly guess what was happening.

The scene unfolding before him appeared to be some sort of sinister, ancient legacy ritual.

What he needed to do right now was to interrupt the ritual before it was completed… by any means necessary!

A large amount of cold energy welled up from within him, turning him almost entirely icy blue.

Pushing through the indescribable oppressive force in the air, he advanced step by step toward the person at the center of the death energy vortex.

“Huff—Huff—”

He panted heavily, his right hand gripping his longblade tightly.

He tried to calm himself and clear his mind of distractions.

The oppressive force in the air grew heavier and heavier, causing his body to tremble instinctively under its weight.

But his heart remained as solid and cold as an iceberg.

With both hands holding his blade, his eyes turned indifferent.

He was about to unleash his most powerful strike at the young figure in front of him.

Suddenly…

A black silhouette shot out from the vortex, hurtling toward him at high speed.

Han Xun instinctively reached out and caught it.

When he saw what he was holding, he was stunned.

All his murderous intent dissipated in an instant, leaving him bewildered and confused.

He was holding a small black card.

On its front—a gold-etched image of a Yellow Bear was silently staring back at him.

An ally???