Chapter 1710: Hell Wild Beast

Everyone was filled with dread.

If the Benevolent Sage were to see the horrific state of Heavenly Relic City, God knew if he would go mad.

The White Tiger was the first to sense the approaching danger. It let out a low growl at the group and bolted towards the Seven Cities of Sky Abyss.

It deliberately slowed its pace, allowing everyone to get on its back.

Everyone instantly teleported away.

Yue Mingzhu, holding Jiang Fan's hand, also quickly prepared to leave, but she found she couldn't pull him along.

Looking back, Jiang Fan stood still, showing no intention of moving.

"Jiang Fan, hurry up and go!"

"The Benevolent Sage wants to kill you most of all!"

Yue Mingzhu urged anxiously.

Jiang Fan gazed deeply at her, slowly released her hand, and said, "You and the others go first."

The Benevolent Sage would return in mere moments, and the Imperial Observatory was a long journey away.

How could they possibly escape?

Unless someone stayed behind to block the Benevolent Sage.

Jiang Fan had decided on this person before the expedition.

It was himself.

Yue Mingzhu understood Jiang Fan's intention, her eyes trembling:

"You- you'll die like this!"

A Soul Transformation cultivator against a Sage?

What was the difference between this and a mortal fighting a Soul Transformation cultivator?

With just a single thought, Jiang Fan would be annihilated.

Jiang Fan gently stroked her cheek and said, "Mingzhu, some things just need to be done."

"The Half-Giant race should have been exterminated a millennium ago. The Benevolent Sage kept them for his own selfish reasons, causing a thousand years of suffering for Gui Xu State."

"They also caused countless casualties in the Middle-Earth today."

"Someone has to collect this debt."

"My time is short, so let me be the one to do it!"

"For the Old Man of Oblivion, for Gui Xu State, for Middle-Earth, I demand that this incompetent Sage steps down!"

"He is unworthy of being a Sage!"

Yue Mingzhu froze, then gripped Jiang Fan's hand, "You have little time left, what does that mean?"

Jiang Fan watched as everyone had disappeared with the White Tiger, leaving only Lin Zhenyu, a Nascent Soul realm cultivator, frantically flying into the distance.

He pulled Yue Mingzhu into a deep embrace and said:

"The Old Man of Heavenly Secrets once divined the heavenly secrets for me, the Six Paths Venerable, and Heavenly Listener Bodhisattva, each once."

"All three of us will die in the near future."

"Now, Heavenly Listener Bodhisattva has already met her demise as he predicted."

"Next, it will be my turn and the Six Paths Venerable's."

Yue Mingzhu's mind was struck by thunder.

She had heard her master mention the Old Man of Heavenly Secrets before; he was a diviner whose insights into heavenly secrets always came true, without deviation.

Since he had divined Jiang Fan's death, it was bound to happen.

Yue Mingzhu finally understood why, after their last reunion in the Myriad Beast Grand State, he had abandoned his usual reserved nature and become completely open about their feelings for each other.

Furthermore, he had uncharacteristically promised to marry her after the matter with the Ancient Giants was resolved.

It turned out that Jiang Fan knew his destiny was short and wanted to give her everything she desired within his limited lifespan.

"Jiang Fan..." Yue Mingzhu quickly wrapped her arms around Jiang Fan's waist, holding him tightly. "No, this isn't real."

"I don't want you to die... We promised to get married, to grow old together."

"We've come so far with such difficulty; I don't want you to leave!" she wailed.

She stamped her feet, tears streaming down her face.

Ever since Jiang Fan promised to marry her, her smile hadn't left her face for a single day.

She had been waiting for this day.

But what awaited her was a bolt from the blue.

Jiang Fan gently patted her back and said, "Alright, hurry and go."

"Don't distract me; it will only put me in more danger."

Just then.

The True Word Venerable, sensing something was wrong, also returned. She asked in surprise, "What happened to you two?"

Jiang Fan didn't answer, but instead said, "Take Yue Mingzhu and leave quickly. I'll cover your retreat."

"Don't ask questions, just go!"

He could already feel the dramatic changes in the world's aura; the Benevolent Sage was tearing through the spatial barrier to return.

Cover their retreat?

The True Word Venerable's pupils contracted. She, of course, realized what Jiang Fan intended to do.

At the same time, she understood Jiang Fan's inevitable fate.

In a daze, she seemed to see the figure of her father, the Star Abyss Grand Venerable, behind Jiang Fan.

The two figures completely merged at that moment.

"Go!" Jiang Fan pushed Yue Mingzhu into the True Word Venerable's arms.

The True Word Venerable bit her red lip, her eyes shimmering with tears. She didn't say a word, simply held Yue Mingzhu, turned, and departed.

Only after teleporting far away did her tears finally fall uncontrollably.

"One by one, they all just want to sacrifice themselves..."

Having sent them away.

Jiang Fan decisively took out the Nine Dragon Demonic Cauldron, the Nine-Colored Crystal, and the Bronze Hellish Beast.

Upon seeing the last item, his gaze swept across and instantly locked onto Lin Zhenyu, who was quickly fleeing towards the horizon.

"You can't leave!"

He pulled out the Void Fishing Rod and, with a flick, reeled him back across the distance.

"Senior Xinghuo, what- what are you doing?"

Lin Zhenyu looked around, his expression changing.

Jiang Fan said with a half-smile, "I told you, I'd bring you to broaden your horizons. An experience like a battle with a Sage is incredibly rare; if you leave, you'll miss it."

Lin Zhenyu's pupils widened in shock.

A Sage-level battle, even its slightest aftershock, could destroy the heavens and earth. How could a Nascent Soul realm cultivator like him possibly 'broaden his horizons' from that?

The more he thought about it, the more he felt something was off. Was Jiang Fan being *too* nice to him?

It wasn't until his peripheral vision caught a glimpse of the Bronze Hellish Beast that his heart pounded fiercely, and he abruptly looked at Jiang Fan.

He understood then that Jiang Fan had long seen through his identity as a Hellish Beast.

Bringing him along was merely to use him to activate the sacrificial artifact.

With a flicker in his eyes, he pulled out a dagger with his backhand and stabbed it towards his own chest, threatening, "Don't come closer!"

"Otherwise, if I die, my blood will be useless."

Jiang Fan's sharp gaze was his only response.

Lin Zhenyu immediately trembled violently, unable to move. The dagger he held tightly clattered to the ground.

Immediately after, his skin cracked and he dispersed into a bloody mist.

A massive and ferocious beast materialized.

It was the Hellish Beast's true form.

Under Jiang Fan's gaze, it still trembled in fear, unable to move.

"Before a Venerable, how can your life and death be your own to control?"

Jiang Fan said indifferently.

A Soul Transformation Venerable was an existence that had transcended the very level of life itself.

Back then, a single glance from the Evil Crow Venerable had rendered him, a Nascent Soul realm cultivator, immobile.

Let alone a mere Core Formation realm Hellish Beast.

"You... my blood is useless to you. This bronze item is a sacrificial artifact; it requires chanting sacrificial incantations to activate it."

"Only nobles of the Hell Realm can master these."

Jiang Fan said indifferently, "Isn't it the 'Scripture of Invoking Saints'?"

"Don't worry, I know how!"

The Hellish Beast was utterly stunned. How could a human like Jiang Fan know sacrificial incantations that only Hell nobles mastered?

Now, it couldn't escape even if it wanted to.

With a casual wave, Jiang Fan pressed the Nine Dragon Demonic Cauldron onto it. For a ninth-level Core Formation cultivator, it was as heavy as Mount Tai.

The Hellish Beast was immediately pinned to the ground. Although its limbs struggled, it couldn't budge the Nine Dragon Demonic Cauldron in the slightest.

Having subdued the Hellish Beast, Jiang Fan stood with his hands behind his back, calmly awaiting the Benevolent Sage's return.