The battle raged on at Maple city, the primary battleground. However, tens of thousands of miles away, the citizens of the Beast Region were going about business as usual.
Of course, they could tell something strange was going on from troop movements within the can. Even so, none of this really affected them.
In the lands of the Dragon Race, Xia Keke was listening as the clan elder prattled on. She pursed her lips and away from him.
“I’ve already heard your heroic tales so many times, my ears are about ready to fall off.”
This familiar scene left Xia Keke on the verge of collapse. She’d been living here for almost a year now. Every couple of days, the old man would drag her here and tell her the same old stories.
She grumbled impatiently, then looked up at the sky.
“Ee?” Xia Keke exclaimed in surprise, blinked, then carefully examined the distant sky.
“Grandfather, look!” She pointed at the sky and called out to him, “There are so many black roses in the sky! How pretty!”
The old man was busy prattling on about Xia Keke accusing him of prattling on too much. When he heard her words, he glanced at the sky. Just as he was about to start prattling on again…..
He stopped; he couldn’t look away.
“Black roses.”
A grim light flashed through his eyes as he stared intently at the distant flowers.
“Grandpa, the roses are way more interesting than your stories,” she laughed gleefully. To her surprise, he didn’t scold her the way he usually would have….
“Grandpa, I’m talking to you!”
She glanced at him, noticing his grave expression for the first time.
“Grandpa, is there something significant about those roses”
“Enough. Go back to your room and wait.”
Her grandfather normally loved having her here. Now, to her surprise, he took the initiative to kick her out. In the past, she’d always had to take advantage of gaps in his attention and sneak out.
In response to this unusual development, Xia Keke’s eyes flashed with curiosity. “Grandpa?”
“Go back!” The old man’s gaze grew stern. Seeing that he was starting to lose his temper, she stuck out her tongue and left. Before she’d taken more than a few steps, she heard him say, “tell your second uncle to come see me.”
With that, he turned back to look at the roses.
“‘Bloom!’ To think Hua Hai would use this attack. The situation is dire!”
…….
“Hua Hai really did it.”
The forces of the Beast Region and Three Realms were stunned, particularly Lin Xihe. When she saw the black roses appear in the sky, her face brimmed over with shock.
Bloom.
This was the final forbidden technique of the Hundred Flowers Battle Arts. It manifested five black roses, each at the cost of one of the user’s five main organs. Once used, the caster would inevitably die but in exchange, their strength was multiplied dozens of times over for a short period of time.
Given that Hua Hai was currently a half-step immortal king, once his roses bloomed…...
He’d be almost as strong as a sky supreme.
“Sect-master Hua,” muttered Lin Xihe. She couldn’t help but glance at Li Jiayi. As the city lord of Hundred Flowers City, her relations.h.i.+p with the Hundred Flowers Gate was naturally extremely close.
She knew that Hua Hai treated Li Jiayi as if she were his own child. The Hundred Flowers Battle Arts had never been shared with outsiders, but he’d pa.s.sed them all on to her.
“Jiayi, my condolences.”
“City Lord Lin, why would you say such a thing?” Li Jiayi simply watched Hua Hai intently and said powerfully, “I’m not upset. My master made his choice. No matter how upset I get, it won’t change a thing. All I can do now is use the future my master created for me to make the Hundred Flowers Gate even stronger.”
Hearing this, the others were visibly moved. They could sense Li Jiayi’s determination from her words.
They nodded inwardly. Then, someone amongst the crowd of city lords and generals asked, “what should we do now?”
“What should we do?” Luo Wei glanced at the speaker indifferently, then snorted. “If something needs doing, do it!
With that, he took initiative and charged at the blood zombies obstructing their path. On his way, he paused briefly to look up at Hua Hai.
“Sect-master, your resolution….. we won’t forget it.”
……..
Wings flapping, Jiangchen couldn’t help but sneer. “You say ‘it will be so dazzling, I’ll remember it even in h.e.l.l?’”
Then he shrugged and smiled inquisitively, “I’m actually rather curious to see just how ‘dazzling’ your short-lived brilliance will be.”
With that, his inquisitive grin faded as he tensed up.
He could stand there and jeer in an attempt to manipulate his opponents" emotions, but in truth, he didn’t dare take him lightly.
He’d heard of the Hundred Flowers Battle Arts.
Furthermore, the roses floating in the air themselves put an enormous amount of pressure on him.
“You want to see exactly how dazzling it will be?” Hua Hai sneered back at Jiangchen. “Then open your eyes and take a good look; you’ll definitely remember it.”
At this point, Hua Hai no longer cared about his bearing. The moment he chose to take this step, he’d decided…..
It was time to go truly berserk.
Fwoosh.
The first of the five floating black roses gradually blossomed, its ink-dark petals opening completely.
The instant it unfolded, Jiangchen saw that Hua Hai’s strength noticeably went up a level.
“Ungh.”
However, as his strength increased, Hua Hai couldn’t help but grunt in pain. He frowned despite himself. Soon, his forehead was covered in a thin veil of sweat.
His spleen.
The first rose corresponded to his spleen. Its blooming came at a cost; as it unfurled, his spleen withered.
“To think it would hurt this much,” Hua Hai thought to himself. “I’ve never felt anything like it; I can clearly sense my own spleen shatter… However, I’ve already adjusted. Furthermore, this isn’t enough to contend with that zombie……”
As he muttered to himself, the second rose bloomed as well.
Followed by the third rose.
Then the fourth.
As the fourth rose bloomed, he acquired sufficient power to challenge Jiangchen.
Jiangchen watched as Hua Hai’s power shot up. At first, Hua Hai was nothing but an ant to him. Then, in little more than an instant, he became an opponent even Jiangchen had to take seriously…..
He couldn’t help but sigh in admiration: the person who invented this skill was amazingly talented.
“Not bad.” Jiangchen acknowledged Hua Hai’s newfound strength. Even so, it wasn’t enough to intimidate him yet.
To his surprise, Hua Hai came to a sudden stop, preventing the fifth and final rose from blooming.
“You’re stopping?” Jiangchen couldn’t help but ask, “if you think your current strength is enough to defeat me, I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint you. Your strength had yet to reach the ‘unforgettably dazzling’ level.”
“That so?” Dazzling golden light burst out of Hua Hai’s body. “Then I’ll beat you until its splendor is carved into your body!”