Chapter 44 - The Bloody Royal Feast (I)
After leaving the restaurant, Ling Chen and Fang Lan immediately made their way to the Royal Palace of the Fire Crow Kingdom.
The Royal Capital of the Fire Crow Kingdom was far bigger and more developed than any of the towns and cities they have visited so far.
Some of the streets were fifty to sixty meters wide, with an endless stream of horses and carriages that trotted along and if Kapoti Town and the other cities they've visited were to be compared, it could only be described as a rural backwater.
"Young Master, the members of the royal family of the Fire Crow Kingdom are written in red or yellow in the Blackbook." Suddenly asked Fang Lan as they were making their way to the Royal Palace.
" Red," Bluntly answered Ling Chen.
Listening to Ling Chen's answer, Fang Lan's eyes flickered with sharpeners as he added." It seems like the Royal Family of the Fire Crow Kingdom really don't put our Heavenly Demon Sect in their eyes."
"They even ignored the Iron Rule passed down by the sect. How should they be dealt with?" Asked Fang Lan as his body was emanating a terrifying killing intent.
"You already know the punishment for traitors." Indifferently answered Ling Chen with his childish voice.
Before Ling Chen left the Heavenly Demon Sect for his mission, his father gave him a small black book that contained the names of the people and influences within the Heavenly Demon Sect Domain that either betrayed them and were spies for the other fifteen great influences, more precisely the Yan Empire.
Although the Heavenly Demon Sect didn't interfere with the governance and the power struggles between the kingdoms and influences within his domain, It didn't mean that they didn't keep an eye on them.
They had spies and people everywhere within their domain. Their jobs were to assess and monitor all the influences within their domain.
The Heavenly Demon sect didn't impose many rules on the influences within his domain. They only had one Iron Rule which was to never betray them at any cost and colluded with the other influences. Except for that and paying a small taxes every year, there was nothing.
Even if a kingdom raged war and occupied other kingdoms, the Heavenly Demon sect wouldn't interfere. Hell!, one could even overthrow a royal family and the Heavenly Demon Sect wouldn't care as long as one pays his taxes and stay loyal to them.
In the past, the Royal family of the Fire Crow Kingdom was surnamed Jiang, not Han. However, two hundred years ago, In a violent rebellion, the Han Clan which was one the four greats clan of the Fire Crow Kingdom at the time suppressed the then Royal Clan and took over the King's Token which gave them the right of rulership.
The King's Token was a token given to every kingdom's Ruler as a proof of their legitimacy by the Heavenly Demon Sect.
Throughout these two hundred years that the Han Clan has taken over, the Fire Crow Kingdom had constantly expanded and annexed two other smaller countries, causing their strength to rise as a whole.
At this moment, Ling Chen and Fang Lan were leisurely advancing forwards, making their way to the Royal Palace. Very swiftly, they soon arrived before the gate of a magnificent Palace.
Before the gate of this enormous magnificent palace were rows of heroic-looking soldiers. There were also two huge stones sculptures of Fire Crows which stood next to the gate. The two stones sculptures looked very intimidating, and their heads were staring down at the passerby, appearing quite fearful.
All the pedestrians walking through the nearby streets couldn't help but unconsciously move a bit farther away, not daring to get too close.
As for Ling Chen and Fang Lan, they walked straight towards it.
" Halt."
"Who are the two of you? This is a restricted place for a civilian. If you have any matters, please speak" One of the guards standing at the gate to the Royal Palace shouted. At the same time, they unsheathed their swords and pointed at the two of them.
Both Ling Chen and Fang Lan understood; this was the royal palace of the king, the ruler of this country. Once one reached a distance of thirty meters or so of the palace without permission, the Royal guards could simply kill the incomer.
" I want to meet your king. Tell him that I am a disciple of the Heavenly Demon Sect." Fang Lan calmly spoke as he showed his core disciple token to the guards.
Though Ling Chen's mission was to annihilate the Royal Family of the Fire Crow Kingdom, he didn't want to just barge in and alert the enemy. He just wanted to catch all of them in a net. As such, his best course of action was to pretend to come in peace.
He might be a child, but he wasn't that stupid. He was raised and grew up in an environment where if he wasn't strong and quick-witted, death was the only thing that awaits him. Not to mention, after he opened his upper-dantian and awakened his Nascent Soul, reluctantly his way of thinking went far beyond that of a child.
Upon hearing Fang Lan's answered, the countenance of the guards changed abruptly. Although they've never been to the Heavenly Demon Sect, as people living within the domain of the Heavenly Demon Sect, they knew what they represented. They were the true ruler of the lands.
"Give me a second, I will report this to the Royal family quickly." Said one of the guards as he opened the gate and ran inside at an astonishing speed.
After a short while, the entrance gate of the Royal Palace opened again, and a row of figures appeared in front of them. They were led by a young man. The young man was very good looking with a golden crown on his head; projecting an aura of royalty.
Behind the young man, there stood several powerful experts. It was evident that they were all extremely powerful characters of the Fire crow Kingdom from the aura they were emanating.
"Upon meeting the Crown prince his highness, why are you still not on your knees?" A middle-aged man with a cold gaze stared at Ling Chen and Fang Lan as he berated. Anger clouded his features; as the sound of his voice faded, a long sword appeared in his hands as he slashed it towards Fang Lan.
From his point of view, Fang Lan was probably a low-level commoner of the Fire Crow Kingdom that recently got accepted into the Heavenly Demon Sect as an outer disciple, and came rushing back to flunk his power in front of the Royal Family.
He had met countless people like that over the years. As soon as they made it to Heavenly Demon Sect, they came back from their respective country to show off.
Because Fang Lan disguised his aura as a Martial Master, the man thought that he was just a recently accepted outer disciple of the Heavenly Demon Sect.
Seeing the incoming attack, Fang Lan didn't even move from his position or released his true aura. He just stood there and raised his hand in order to block the attack.
"Overestimating yourself." The middle-aged man coldly snorted, glaring at Fang Lan as he continued to slash his sword forward.
Using bare hands to block a spiritual weapon was simply courting death. Who does he think he is, a Martial King realm warrior!
Even the crown prince was astonished at this sight, so it was needless to say about the rest of the guards. Other Martial Master would run before such an attack, let alone trying to block it with their bare hands.
While everyone was expecting to see the cocky youngster's hand be tattered with blood or maybe even his body would be slashed into two.
However, something unbelievable happened. The young man easily caught the sword as though it was just a piece of wood.
The middle-aged man was completely aghast as his expression greatly changed, however before he could figure out what happened.
Om—" A clear and crisp sound rang and his sword was suddenly caught in a fire.
The black flame quickly flowed through the sword before engulfing the middle-aged man's body like a flood from the horizon raging forward.
"Ah…" the middle-aged man suddenly bellowed a pitiful scream as his body was suddenly caught on fire out of nowhere.
The black flame, as powerful as a raging inferno, suddenly burned the man's entire body. He couldn't help but coarsely scream out: "No…"
In the blink of an eye, his entire body was incinerated and fell to the floor, completely scorched.
After the man was burnt to death, the powerful black flame on his body slowly disappeared just like flames that finished burning a piece of paper.
Witnessing this scene not to mention the Crown prince, everyone was scared out of their wits. The middle-aged man was a powerful warrior of the Martial Ancestor realm, yet not only the young man caught his strong sword attack with his bare hands, he even burnt him to death.
How powerful was that young man!
At this moment, they realized that the young man wasn't some newly accepted outer disciple that came to show off his power but the real deal.
"I am really sorry about my subordinate's action. I am sure that both of you must have traveled a long distance to arrive here today. Also, there must be a good reason for you two lords to want to see my father the king. So why not share the reason with me as my father is currently in the middle of a meeting in the Royal Court." Said the Crown prince with a slight smile on his face as he stepped forward in order to stop his men from making any unnecessary moves. He could clearly tell that none of his men was a match for Fang Lan.
"You are the Crown prince of this kingdom?" suddenly asked Ling Chen who has been silent the whole time.
"Yes." Answered the Crown prince though he didn't know who that youth was.
At this moment, He just wanted to know what was the true identity of these two unwelcomed guests in the Heavenly Demon Sect. They even actually killed a royal guard as though he was a mere dog while the sect forbade any disciple to meddle in the affair of the secular world.
"Ling Chen, the third son of the Heavenly Demon Venerable." A voice transmitted into his mind. The smiling face of the Crown prince instantly changed as he suddenly felt a chill ran down his spine.
However, he was stunned only for an instant, and recovered swiftly as he stated, gesturing to a path behind him, "Please."
After which, he stepped aside, his actions causing the guards by the side to feel extremely puzzled. Why was the crown prince so polite?
Ling Chen and Fang Lan didn't hesitate as well and directly went straight ahead. After the two of them passed him, the crown prince transmitted his voice to the rest of the guards, "Lockdown the entire Royal Palace. Do not allow anyone to enter or exit."
After that, he arranged for some of the guards to remain here, while some followed behind him.