Chapter 1650: Dark Asura Clan (Fourth Update)

A hint of suspicion arose within him, and after a brief thought, he approached, still invisible.

He discovered it was a basin filled with jagged meteorite craters. Lava churned within the craters, and from them emerged blood-red, lizard-like behemoths. Their bodies were covered in red scales. They stood on their hind legs, and their long tails bore scorching, red-hot stingers. Black forked tongues flickered from their mouths, and they clutched three-pronged steel tridents. On their foreheads, they bore one to three stars.

Jiang Fan was startled. "Aren't these the Blood Fiends that appeared in the Radiant Hunt?" he wondered. The difference was that these Blood Fiends were more humanoid, beyond the level of mere monsters. The stars on their foreheads, identical to those of Ancient Giants, revealed their true identity: Ancient Blood Demons, one of the three Ancient Dark Creatures!

At that moment, a Three-Crowned Asura King was hunting Ancient Blood Demons. More accurately, she was being hunted by them. Eight Ancient Blood Demons had surrounded her, forming multiple layers. Among them was one Three-Star Blood Demon King and three Two-Star Blood Demon Kings. The Three-Star Blood Demon King did not attack directly; instead, it ordered the seven other Blood Demon Kings to besiege her first. It circled the battlefield, trident in hand, looking for the optimal moment to strike. The moment the female Asura revealed a weakness, the Three-Star Blood Demon King would deliver a fatal blow.

Jiang Fan observed this, thinking to himself: "The Blood Demon Kings are nearly as intelligent as the Giant Kings, which makes them very troublesome. Although this Asura woman is powerful, she won't last much longer. But why would she, alone, provoke a group of Ancient Blood Demons? Isn't this suicide?"

Suspicious, he examined the woman. Her entire body was shrouded in a faint black mist, making her face indistinguishable, and even her crown was obscured within it. Her origins remained unknown.

After a moment of thought, his eyes gleamed. He silently approached the battlefield. "Whether you're truly in danger or faking it," he mused, "since you're distracting them, I'll take a shot and then flee. Any kills I get are a bonus."

Just as he arrived nearby, the female Asura warrior suddenly found herself at a disadvantage. A Two-Star Blood Demon King, seizing the opportunity while she attacked elsewhere, swung its tail, impaling her calf with its scorching stinger like lightning. The Three-Crowned Asura King's body was instantly pierced by the stinger, which, like molten lava, melted her calf from the inside out in moments.

"Ah!" The Asura King, caught off guard, let out a pained cry. She spun around and shattered the head of the attacking Two-Star Blood Demon King with a single blow. However, this finally gave the Three-Star Blood Demon King a chance for a fatal strike. He raised his trident high and hurled it viciously towards the Asura King's back.

But suddenly, a sense of alarm flared within him. He swung his tail violently behind him, its sharp stinger so hot that it made the air ripple. With a dull thud, a three-colored divine rainbow struck the stinger on his tail, showering sparks and leaving multiple indentations.

The Three-Star Blood Demon King was startled, yelling in the human language, "Who's there?" He stared at the marks on his stinger, profoundly shocked. Someone had been hidden, completely unbeknownst to him? Moreover, that three-colored divine rainbow was incredibly dangerous. His stinger was exceptionally hard and, under normal circumstances, should not have been damaged, yet now it bore several indentations. If not for his naturally acute senses and timely reaction, he would have surely fallen victim.

The fallen female Asura warrior also showed a strange glint in her eyes, observing the area around the Three-Star Blood Demon King. She seemed to be trying to locate the hidden individual.

But then, the three-colored divine rainbow vanished, not striking again. Instead, three One-Star Blood Demon Kings behind the Three-Star King, already injured, exploded without warning. An injured Two-Star Blood Demon King also shrieked as its body began to rot. A long-酝酿ed purple light sliced through its neck. And that was the end of it.

Having successfully landed a strike, Jiang Fan didn't bother with the remaining One-Star Blood Demon King and simply fled.

Seeing this, the Three-Star Blood Demon King's face contorted. It roared, "Get out here, now…" However, just as its roar began, a chilling voice, one that made it tremble, came from above. "Useless trash! You couldn't even keep one person here!"

The Three-Star Blood Demon King, the two remaining Two-Star Blood Demon Kings, and the sole One-Star Blood Demon King—their expressions suddenly turned blank, their eyes hollow and lifeless. The Three-Crowned Asura King also stiffly rose, her gaze vacant. All of them stood eerily motionless, as if they had become puppets.

Immediately after, two young figures in black robes, one male and one female, slowly emerged. They were surrounded by an aura of gloom, and above their heads hovered five and four crowns, respectively. They were none other than a Five-Crowned Asura King and a Four-Crowned Asura King from the Asura race! On the crowns on their foreheads, the characters "Southern Heaven Realm" were clearly inscribed. The male's crown bore the name "Tianjian," and the female's bore the name "Tianqin."

The Five-Crowned Asura King looked at the four dead Blood Demon Kings and chuckled in annoyance: "Where did such a cautious fellow come from? We couldn't trick him into our trap; instead, he slaughtered several Blood Demon Kings!"

The young woman beside him was beautiful. If Jiang Fan had been present, he would have recognized her striking resemblance to Tiange, the Dark Race Princess suppressed beneath White Horse Temple. Their identities were obvious: they were royalty of the Dark Asura race from the Celestial Realm!

Tianqin also let out an annoyed laugh: "We've been so successful, tricking and killing elites from various realms, but this time we encountered a top-tier sly one. He wiped his mouth clean and slipped away!"

It turned out that the Three-Crowned Asura King and the Ancient Blood Demons were all puppets under their control. Under their manipulation, if a hunter was spotted passing by, both sides would feign a fierce battle. Once a hunter fell for the trap and joined, they would face a combined assault from the Three-Crowned Asura King and the Ancient Blood Demons. Even if that wasn't enough, the two of them would also intervene. Their scheme had been consistently successful, allowing them to seize many resources and achieve numerous accomplishments. They never expected to be outsmarted by an unknown, invisible individual. The person must have sensed something was wrong, but instead of fleeing, they took advantage of the situation. This truly infuriated the duo.

Tianqin released her control over the Three-Crowned Asura King, allowing her to regain consciousness. "Take this," Tianqin said, tossing her a healing elixir. The Three-Crowned Asura King consumed it, and her severed leg visibly regenerated.

Tianqin asked, "Did you recognize the fighting style of the person who just attacked?" The Three-Crowned Asura King shook her head. "No, I didn't." As she shook her head, a strand of silver hair briefly glinted within the black mist.

Tianjian said, "Never mind. Let's set a few more traps elsewhere and gather as many life-saving resources as possible. Based on our calculations, the Ancient Blood Demon Tide will begin soon. That will be the true moment to determine our achievements. What about Prince Xiang? He may not be able to defeat the puppet talent of our Dark Asura race!"