King of Ten Thousand Years

"Who knows if you didn’t just desert your post?"

Yue Jing’s expression turned cold, radiating the authority of a superior.

’Deserted my post?’

The nearby Holy Mansion students’ faces changed in unison as they looked at Luo Tian with growing pity.

This defense against the Beast Tide was a collective mission for the Sun Chasing Holy Mansion. Deserters were punished severely and without exception.

If the accusation was confirmed, Yue Jing would even have the authority to take action against Luo Tian personally.

"Brat! Spit it out! Why were you so late returning, and all by yourself?"

A purple-haired youth beside Yue Jing shouted fiercely.

"Confess obediently, and maybe your punishment will be lighter."

Another, a seductive-looking girl, had a playful smirk on her red lips.

The purple-haired youth and the seductive girl were Yue Jing’s right-hand men, both with Cultivation at the Eighth Layer of Meridian Opening or higher. They were powerful figures among the Silver Students.

At this moment, the immense pressure from a Ninth Layer of Meridian Opening expert and two at the Eighth Layer of Meridian Opening bore down on him.

An ordinary cultivator at the Sixth and Seventh Meridian Opening would have likely turned pale and started trembling in fear.

Luo Tian, however, remained unfazed. He said calmly, "The entire village was overrun by the Beast Tide. All the defenders retreated. How can you call that desertion?"

His current strength was top-notch even among the Silver Students.

His status and strength were plain to see, and that was the source of his confidence.

It wouldn’t be so easy for Yue Jing to make a move against him without a solid reason.

"Don’t make excuses! How much pressure could a Beast Tide at a single village exert?"

Yue Jing sneered.

He was well aware of what had happened at Luo Tian’s village but pretended not to know.

The key was that Luo Tian had returned alone and completely unharmed, while Ji Xingjun and his two companions had yet to come back.

Yue Jing found this deeply suspicious and intended to interrogate him thoroughly.

"Haha! We students weren’t the only ones who retreated from the village. So did Master Luo. Are you going to say a Mentor deserted his post too? Why don’t you go question him?"

Luo Tian laughed and retorted sharply.

As soon as he said this, the surrounding Holy Mansion students broke into surprised whispers and gave him strange looks.

"Insolence! I’m questioning you right now!"

Yue Jing’s face darkened. He was annoyed that a mere Silver Student was challenging his authority.

He hadn’t expected Luo Tian to remain so composed under the immense pressure of the three of them, even managing to launch such a sharp and vicious counterattack.

"You little brat! Everyone else fought tooth and nail, retreating only after brutal, bloody battles with Demon Beasts. You don’t have a single scratch on you, and barely a drop of blood. How do you explain that?"

the seductive girl asked with a mocking smile.

The Martial Artists present all turned to look at Luo Tian in surprise.

It was incredibly difficult to remain unscathed, with so little blood on you, during a Beast Tide.

Furthermore, Luo Tian had returned alone. There were indeed many suspicious points.

"Who says I didn’t fight a bloody battle? You claim I deserted my post, so how do you explain this?"

Luo Tian snorted coldly.

WHOOSH!

He undid the bundle on his back, and a pile of blood-stained Demon Cores spilled onto the ground—at least seventy or eighty of them.

From the size and aura of the Demon Cores, one could tell that four or five of them belonged to One-star High Tier Demon Beasts.

"This is my haul from just one day on the front lines."

Luo Tian stated calmly.

The surrounding students and Martial Artists were stunned into disbelief.

"How is that possible!"

"He collected that many Demon Cores in just one day? I’ve been on the front lines for days and haven’t gotten that many."

Some of the Silver Students stared, dumbfounded.

Yue Jing’s face suddenly darkened. He was speechless.

The seductive girl and the purple-haired youth beside him were also struck dumb, their faces a mixture of shock and doubt.

With their Cultivation, they had been here for several days, yet their gains weren’t much better than Luo Tian’s.

During every Beast Tide, the number of Demon Cores collected served as irrefutable proof of one’s battles against Demon Beasts.

Luo Tian had been here for only a day and had already obtained so many Demon Cores. Who would dare question whether he had deserted or not fought a bloody battle?

"Yue Jing, as the grand captain, if you want to use your public office to settle a private score, you should at least find a better excuse."

Luo Tian said unhurriedly as he gathered up the Demon Cores.

He had managed to hunt so many Demon Beasts thanks to his control over his Spiritual Sense on one hand, and the Crow’s help on the other.

’How could High Tier Demon Beasts be so easy to kill?’

’Of those five High Tier Demon Cores, one was stolen from Li Hai, and the other three were from kills I made with the Crow on the way back.’

"Luo Tian, watch what you say! As captain, is there anything wrong with a routine inquiry?"

Yue Jing’s expression changed drastically as he scrambled to salvage the situation.

There were too many eyes and ears here. If word got out that he was abusing his authority to settle a personal grudge, it would be bad for him and could even affect his backer, Vice Manor Master Yue.

"Alright, this was all a misunderstanding. Return to the ranks."

Yue Jing waved his hand, feigning composure while suppressing the rage in his heart.

Luo Tian casually walked away, preparing to regroup with Chen Haofei.

But he found that his original team had been broken up, and Chen Haofei had been assigned to another squad.

Yue Jing also noticed this, and a smug, playful smile appeared on his face.

"Luo Tian, your squad has been disbanded. An elite like you is a perfect fit for my personal elite squad."

Yue Jing said with a brilliant smile, his tone righteous and stern.

Luo Tian frowned slightly. He really couldn’t refuse.

After all, Yue Jing was the grand captain of this area, in command of all the student battles here.

As a lone Silver Student, being assigned to a squad by him was considered official business.

"Fine by me."

Luo Tian joined Yue Jing’s team, feeling somewhat annoyed.

The elite squad was specially tasked with dealing with High Tier Demon Beasts, including some comparable to the Eighth and Ninth Layers of Meridian Opening.

The opportunities to earn Contribution Points were greater here.

However, Yue Jing definitely had ill intentions in assigning Luo Tian to his own team.

"CAW CAW! Kid, you sure have a lot of enemies. You find them everywhere you go."

the Crow behind Luo Tian cackled, gloating.

’A talking... Crow?’

In an instant, the Crow’s presence drew the attention of all the nearby students.

Yue Jing and his group also looked astonished.

Although this Crow was ugly, it spoke clearly and had a wide range of expressions. It seemed to possess high intelligence.

"Ugly Bird! Shut your beak!"

Luo Tian snapped. If the Crow accidentally let slip that he had killed Tang Wei, Li Hai, and the others, it would be a huge disaster.

"Luo Tian, go to the northwest corner and guard against attacks from High Tier Demon Beasts over there."

Yue Jing ordered, glancing at the Crow.

The Martial Arts World was vast, magnificent, and full of wonders. A talking Battle Beast wasn’t exactly earth-shattering.

"Alright."

Luo Tian didn’t overthink it and headed to the northwest corner with the Crow.

The northwest corner was much closer to the Celestial Extreme Mountain Range. High Tier Flying Birds often bypassed the front of the Battle Castle to launch attacks here.

"Hehe! The northwest corner has the highest casualty rate."

The purple-haired youth beside Yue Jing chuckled softly.

"And it’s mostly flying birds that attack there, which are hard to kill."

The seductive girl smiled.

Both of them were Yue Jing’s trusted confidants, so they didn’t hold back their words.

After sending Luo Tian to the northwest corner, Yue Jing secretly recalled two other Silver Students.

Of course, this was all done very discreetly, but not so discreetly that a keen observer wouldn’t notice.

Yue Jing was a Golden Lord and the nephew of the Vice Manor Master. Even if he secretly set up a background-less Silver Student to die, no one would investigate.

「Northwest Corner Area」

Moments after arriving, Luo Tian understood Yue Jing’s intentions.

This was a treacherous spot. The ordinary, easy-to-handle Demon Beasts couldn’t reach it.

Instead, powerful Demon Birds would suddenly attack from the other side of the Battle Castle, making them impossible to guard against.

Killing flying birds was far more difficult than killing beasts that walked on the ground.

Before a Martial Artist advanced to the Celestial Pool Realm and gained the ability to fly, they were at a slight disadvantage against flying birds of the same tier.

Even an Earth Element Realm Martial Artist could at most perform a brief Soaring Over technique.

Fortunately, it was Luo Tian. With his Spiritual Sense and powerful reflexes, he could still handle sneak attacks from the flying birds.

At that moment, two flying birds were circling above Luo Tian. One was equivalent to the Seventh Layer of Meridian Opening, the other comparable to the Eighth Layer of Meridian Opening.

In addition, there were a dozen or so One-star Middle Tier Demon Beasts.

Without revealing his full strength, it wasn’t too difficult for Luo Tian to injure or repel the High Tier Demon Birds.

But killing them was another matter entirely.

If it had been an ordinary Silver Student, they would have been in a sorry state by now, or even killed on the spot.

"This Luo Tian has some skill."

"But how long can he last like this? Even if he can hold on, his efficiency at earning Contribution Points will be drastically reduced."

In the distance, Yue Jing and his two companions watched with cold, mocking expressions.

Luo Tian could indeed handle it for a short time, and with relative ease. However, he couldn’t tolerate the massive drop in his efficiency at earning Contribution Points.

"Ugly Bird, do you still want to eat some choice hearts?"

Luo Tian snorted.

"CAW CAW CAW... You got it, you got it!"

The Crow put on a fawning expression and flapped its way eagerly into the air.

The moment it appeared, some kind of aura seemed to emanate from it, causing the eyes of the other flying birds to turn red as they madly dived toward it.

"AAAH... Save me..."

The Crow flew frantically back to Luo Tian’s side, circling him in a panic.

"Chasing Stars and Catching the Moon!"

Luo Tian’s longsword danced, unleashing three brilliant, dazzling rays of Sword Light that sliced through the Demon Beasts flying low nearby.

The flying birds swarmed crazily toward the Crow, allowing Luo Tian to harvest them with ease.

PFFT! PFFT! SHHNK!

In just a few moments, Luo Tian had completely annihilated the two High Tier Demon Beasts and dozen-plus Middle Tier Demon Beasts in the northwest corner.

Afterward, a few more stray flying birds appeared, only to be immediately lured over by the Crow and effortlessly reaped by Luo Tian.

"Haha! This spot isn’t bad after all..."

Luo Tian grinned broadly.

"CAW CAW CAW... This is pretty comfy."

The Crow also looked delighted, eating one Demon Beast heart after another.

Gradually, the man and the bird became a unique sight in the troublesome northwest corner.

Any flying bird that happened to attack was drawn to the Crow the moment it appeared, only to be slain by Luo Tian.

In fact, Luo Tian even managed to severely wound and repel a flying bird whose strength was close to the Ninth Layer.

This had something to do with Luo Tian’s strength, but it wasn’t the main reason.

Because the flying birds almost completely ignored Luo Tian; all their fire was drawn by the Crow.

In less than half an hour, Luo Tian had killed three or four High Tier Flying Birds and dozens of other Middle Tier Demon Birds. These were all precious Contribution Points.

"How is this possible! That brat..."

Watching the man and bird enjoying themselves, Yue Jing’s expression flickered between dark and pale. He felt an intense sense of frustration.

The flying birds couldn’t even appear as fast as Luo Tian was killing them.

From a distance, the man and bird stood in the northwest corner, the area with the highest death rate, gazing up at the sky in anticipation, waiting for new Demon Birds to appear. To any Martial Artist who didn’t know the truth, the scene had a grand and heroic atmosphere that commanded solemn respect.

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