"Stop dallying and deal with them quickly. After all, this is Huaxia. Once the people from Dragon King Hall arrive, our small group won't be enough to stand against them,"
Old Wu waved his hand at the middle-aged man and spoke with an impatient tone.
"Yes..."
The middle-aged man hurriedly nodded respectfully.
But in his heart, he didn't take this seriously at all.
Although Fallen Splendor suffered heavy losses during the dark turmoil, it was not nearly as much as Dragon King Hall.
In Fallen Splendor, he was a confidant of a Vampire Duke, and he knew that the main combatants of Dragon King Hall had almost all perished in the turmoil, except for the Dragon King, who was left alone in command.
He believed, so what if Mu Jinyu arrived? The Dragon King might be a Divine Realm Warrior, but wasn't Old Wu also in the Divine Realm?
With so many Masters of Energy Transformation present, how could they fear one little Dragon King? If displeased, they might just slay a dragon today for him to see!
Thinking thus, the middle-aged man quickened his steps slightly and soon led his men to San Liu and Nameless.
Then, they subdued the two assassins who were already immobile!
One on each side, they stepped on the hands of San Liu and Nameless, while another stepped on their heads, preventing them from getting up at all.
Delighting in trampling over San Liu and Nameless, these people basked in the angry and suffocating expressions of their foes.
There was a time when they, as Dark Energy Warriors, could only look up to super first-class assassins, peak Energy Transformation grandmasters like San Liu and Nameless, not even daring to breathe loudly in their presence.
But now, these two once formidable assassins lay beneath their feet, trampled in the dirt!
Utterly powerless to fight back!
The middle-aged man didn't even glance at the humiliated San Liu and Nameless, bending down to pick up the sword array diagram that Nameless had earlier produced, but which had fallen to the ground due to Old Wu's move.
Holding in his hands the sword array that could easily slaughter Divine Realm Warriors, a flicker of surprise crossed the middle-aged man's eyes.
"Let me have a look at that,"
said a Count Vampire who had been part of the earlier ambush, stepping forward and reaching out towards the middle-aged man.
"Oh, okay..."
Upon hearing the Earl's words, a shadow flickered through the middle-aged man's eyes. Although he was a confidant of one duke, he was not under this count.
However, because the count's status was higher, if he insisted on taking the sword array diagram first, the middle-aged man really had no way to refute it.
He could only obediently hand over the sword array diagram.
The Count Vampire, upon receiving the sword array diagram, scrutinized it carefully for a moment, realizing it didn't seem different from an average banner.
He tried infusing True Yuan into the sword array diagram, but it felt like throwing a clot of earth into the sea, with no response, as it got entirely swallowed up.
"Hmm?"
The Count Vampire's eyes flickered with a mix of doubt and delight.
The doubt was about uncertainly grasping the essence of the sword array diagram.
The delight was because the sword array diagram responded, indicating it was authentic, not just a bluff from Nameless.
"Let's try again..."
Now sure that the sword array diagram was genuine, the Count Vampire continued to cautiously pour his True Essence Power into it.
Still getting no response.
Only after the majority of his True Essence Power had been devoured by the sword array diagram did he stop in panic, his face pale.
Count Vampire looked at the sword array diagram in his hand with a mix of shock and doubt, then turned to San Liu and Nameless, who lay trampled in the mud, unable to move, and puzzled, "Strange, why can they activate the Sword Array when they are also at the Peak Energy Transformation Level, but I can't?"
"Maybe there's a restriction on this sword array diagram? Or perhaps it has recognized a master?"
Seeing that Count Vampire could do nothing about the Sword Array, the middle-aged man, unwilling to let him reap all the benefits alone, suggested, "Why don't we let Old Wu have a look?"
"Let me take a look."
Old Wu had been watching their actions all along and seeing that Count Vampire couldn't figure out how to use the sword array, felt increasingly apprehensive and immediately called out.
"Yes."
Though Count Vampire felt somewhat reluctant and resentful upon hearing Old Wu's words, he was at his wit's end with the sword array diagram and having had a large portion of his True Essence Power devoured, he could only hand it over to Old Wu to figure out.
Old Wu took the sword array diagram and tentatively infused his Demonic Essence into it, "Something's not right..."
After having part of his Demonic Essence swallowed by the sword array diagram, Old Wu immediately stopped and said, "It's no good, I can't activate this sword array diagram either!"
"Hmm, so what do we do now?"
The middle-aged man and Count Vampire felt the situation becoming problematic upon hearing Old Wu's words.
Old Wu was an Evil Cultivator of Divine Realm Level, and even he couldn't do anything with the sword array diagram, so what were they to do?
The middle-aged man frowned and said, "If even Old Wu can't do anything with the sword array diagram, then it's clearly not something that can be used casually. If it's because the sword array diagram has recognized a master, that's easy to handle; we just need to kill San Liu and Nameless..."
While saying this, the middle-aged man looked towards the barely alive San Liu, and Nameless, who was clenching his teeth in anger staring at them. He wasn't scared; instead, his brows furrowed even tighter, "I'm afraid that activating the terrifying Power of Slaughter of the sword array diagram requires specific techniques!"
Upon hearing the middle-aged man's words, both Old Wu and Count Vampire frowned, understanding his point.
One had to simply kill San Liu and Nameless to nullify any claim to the sword array diagram, naturally leaving it up to them for control. However, for the latter, it seemed only San Liu or Nameless knew how to deploy it, and if they didn't reveal the method, wouldn't the sword array diagram be as good as scrap paper in their hands?
Count Vampire was secretly relieved at this moment, thankful that they hadn't pressed too hard in their pursuit of San Liu, fearing this very scenario, and thankful he hadn't immediately killed San Liu and Nameless after getting the sword array diagram. There was still room for maneuver.
"Since that's the case..."
Count Vampire's brows relaxed, and his gaze shifted to San Liu and Nameless under his subordinates' feet, "Then pry their mouths open for me!"
Old Wu, who had been feeling unsettled all this time, now felt his heartbeat accelerating even more, sensing an impending disaster. Hearing Count Vampire's words, he couldn't help but suggest, "Jadeson, take them away and interrogate them."
Jadeson, also known as Count Vampire, intended to agree when San Liu suddenly uttered a low moan, his pupils dilating. He had a foreboding sense and refused, "No, Old Wu, San Liu is about to die; if we don't pry his mouth open now but take them away first, he might not last that long. If San Liu holds the secret to using the sword array diagram, that would spell the end for us!"
Old Wu, on hearing Jadeson's words, frowned heavily but found it reasonable.
If the method to use the sword array diagram truly lay with San Liu, and since San Liu was dying already, moving San Liu and Nameless now might lead to San Liu dying en route!
Well, since it had come to this, what harm could a little more delay do?
Thinking thus, Old Wu nodded and said, "Alright then, make it quick."
"No problem!"
Jadeson nodded and then gestured for the subordinate standing on San Liu to step aside, while he sat down on San Liu's back and placed one hand on San Liu's forehead!
"Glug glug..."
A strange noise arose from San Liu's body.
This was Jadeson using his Blood Clan methods to forcefully stimulate the barely conscious San Liu to catalyze his Essence Blood, prolonging his life in a last burst of vitality.