Chapter 781: Blood Brand Escape

"Report to the Elder, Chen Zhidong has fallen..."

Inside the Heaven-Propping Mecha, a trembling voice rang out; the Five-Clan soldier in military uniform had eyes rimmed with red.

"I know..."

Chen Qi waved his hand, a trace of sorrow appearing in his eyes, but this sorrow quickly vanished, replaced by coldness:

"Dispatch the Chizhou Third Army; you must completely suppress Chen Min and reach Green Mountain before Chen Min does!"

"Yes!"

The military guard left.

"Who on earth made the move?!"

The Heaven-Propping Mecha stood tall like a giant mountain of steel, its silver-blue armor reflecting the sky's light.

The eye positions were two giant floor-to-ceiling windows flickering with eerie light, framing the bright office inside.

Chen Qi sat on a leather chair, a desk made of white jade before him.

He narrowed his eyes; his Eighth-Rank perception was extremely powerful.

Even though Chen Zhidong was thousands of miles away from him, he could still perceive through causality the changes in the aura of that space at the moment of Chen Zhidong's death.

Suddenly, over a hundred thunderbolts had approached the still-airborne Chen Zhidong, and then exploded with a boom.

What was this?

Was it a thunder-attribute explosive array disc?

Chen Qi could not determine it for the moment, but Chen Zhidong was already dead.

Moreover, the vanguard army under Chen Zhidong was currently still locked in a death struggle with the ten-thousand-strong army led by Chen Min.

Everyone knew that the Blood Brand and the Blood Gu were on Green Mountain.

The Five Clans did not want to let go, and the Great Xia was even less willing to let go.

"Chen Min..." Chen Qi narrowed his eyes:

"He already has the combat power to kill a peak Creation Realm expert!"

In an instant, Chen Qi's white hair scattered wildly, and a surge of anger rose up.

Among the Chen Prefecture collateral branches, the most famous were Chen Yan and Chen Changyuan.

But Chen Min, this son of Chen Changyuan, once the greatest rival to the Ice Intent breakthrough awakening, had now quietly grown into a Great Xia Ten-Thousand-Man Commander.

His strength even suppressed all the Second-Level generals of the Great Xia, and his potential was astonishing.

Among the younger generation, he was second only to Jiang Yuan and Chen Yu.

Though called a Ten-Thousand-Man Commander, he was actually already a candidate for the Chief of the Prefecture Military Guards.

Furthermore, possessing an Immortal Will and being ruthless in slaughter, he was definitely a famous general on the Great Xia side.

"You must not let Chen Min approach Green Mountain and take away the Blood Brand and the Blood Gu; if Chen Min gets close, consider for yourselves how you will bear the consequences!"

Chen Qi spoke in a cold voice, his voice carried by a wondrous power, transmitted through a communication array disc to a military camp dozens of miles outside Green Mountain.

Here, the mountains and rivers were shattered, the earth cracked, yet thousands of tents were arrayed on the slightly flatter land.

This was the former Yixian City.

But the current Yixian City had none of its former appearance.

"Chizhou Third Army, assemble!"

A grand voice rang out, and a green-haired man walked out from a tent, his entire body exuding a fierce and murderous aura.

"I said long ago that to take back the Blood Brand, my Chizhou Third Army was willing to lead the charge, but you insisted on giving Chen Zhidong of Chen Prefecture the chance to earn merit and wouldn't let my Third Army move.

Now that this piece of trash Chen Zhidong is dead, you finally know regret, don't you?"

The green-haired man sneered, not avoiding the issue; he was certain his voice could be heard by the current Commander-in-Chief, Chen Qi.

At his ear, the communication array disc transmitted Chen Qi's cold shout:

"If you can't catch Li Zhiyi, I will hold you, Chi Ning, accountable!"

The green-haired man named Chi Ning laughed loudly:

"You'd better take care of yourself; a perfectly fine Ji Tianhe died right under your nose, how did you act as Commander-in-Chief?"

One could imagine just how furious Chen Qi was right now.

But Chi Ning did not care.

Although he was only in the Creation Realm, he was a man of Chizhou, and the Chizhou Lord was currently overseeing the battle in secret.

Even if Chen Qi wanted to punish him, he would need to consult the Chizhou Lord.

As long as Chi Ning did not make any too-serious mistakes, the Chizhou Lord would protect him.

The Five-Clan Allied Army was actually just a coalition formed by the Chen, Chi, Lu, and the remnants of the Ji Prefecture.

Where there is a coalition, there will inevitably be internal conflicts.

The Chizhou Lord and the Chen Lord had never had conflicts, but the armies of the Chen, Chi, and Lu clans often had conflicts due to resource issues.

After all, at this time, whichever clan's army obtained more resources, that clan could retain more combat power.

"The Blood Brand divine artifact is meant for my use; how could a nobody be able to bear it?"

Chi Ning laughed loudly.

At the same time.

On Green Mountain.

Golden-red light burned in the forest like a small sun.

The terrifying killing intent erupting from the Blood Brand and Li Zhiyi's power of will were strangling each other, like two wild beasts in the wilderness fighting desperately.

A life-or-death struggle.

Li Zhiyi's veins bulged all over his body, his eyes shining brightly, and he did not retreat an inch.

The more this was the case, the more he could feel the sense of disdain coming from the Blood Brand.

This made him understand even more that he had never been the master of the Blood Brand.

The Blood Brand choosing him would only bring him crisis.

In this world, the lush trees were bathed in the light of a holy and scorching will.

The molten-gold radiance made it impossible to look directly at.

"Zhiyi."

Punitive Battalion Commander Zhang Yu arrived, but could only block his arm with one hand, unable to look directly.

He had originally intended to tell Li Zhiyi about the information the Punitive Battalion had scouted, but now, Li Zhiyi's situation forced Zhang Yu to leave helplessly.

"I actually cannot understand at all what he is doing; the power of will on Zhiyi is more powerful than any Will Martial Artist I have ever seen," Zhang Yu murmured.

As he was walking, he saw the Deputy Battalion Commander rushing toward him.

The Deputy Battalion Commander looked at the deep forest filled with shattered gold luster and opened his mouth.

"Do not disturb Zhiyi," Zhang Yu shook his head.

The Deputy Battalion Commander nodded bitterly:

"Old Zhang, what should we do now? The Five Clans and my Great Xia have already begun a great battle at the foot of Green Mountain."

Zhang Yu's eyes shifted, and he shook his head:

"We cannot participate in the battle."

Originally, the Deputy Battalion Commander led hundreds of Punitive Battalion recruits to flee, while Zhang Yu took the wounded and disabled veterans to die.

As a result, the recruits encountered Ji Tianhe, who held the Blood Brand.

Ji Tianhe used the Blood Brand to erupt with powerful killing intent, which was almost like a martial artist destroying minds, severely injuring all hundreds of recruits.

Do not look at it as just the suppression of killing intent, but not everyone is Li Zhiyi.

Li Zhiyi was fine, but Zhang Yu was bitter; those hundreds of recruits were effectively ruined.

Many people's minds were greatly affected, and in these two days, quite a few had committed suicide.

And those not disturbed by the Blood Brand were only some veterans covered in wounds and disabilities.

To put it bluntly, even if Chen Min was leading a great army in a bloody battle against the Five Clans at the foot of Green Mountain.

Even if the current Punitive Battalion went over, it would only be to die and lower the fighting will of their own people.

The Deputy Battalion Commander looked at Zhang Yu, wanting to speak but stopping, then turned his head away.

Zhang Yu stared at the current Zhang Yu, sighed in his heart, and spoke heavily:

"You go."

"Hm?" The Deputy Battalion Commander was stunned, but Zhang Yu continued:

"You and I both know that Zhiyi is the core now; even if our Punitive Battalion had more people, it would have no attraction to the Five Clans.

It is better to take this opportunity to leave."

The Deputy Battalion Commander stared fixedly at Zhang Yu; Zhang Yu had actually spoken his inner thoughts:

"Old Zhang, you take the Punitive Battalion and leave, I..."

The Deputy Battalion Commander gritted his teeth:

"I will stay; I can still fight."

Zhang Yu smiled:

"What can you fight? I am a Level 5, you are only a Level 4.

I could swat you away with one hand."

The Deputy Battalion Commander fell silent, and after a long time, he finally said:

"Then come with me."

His eyes were a bit red; in fact, everyone knew that staying behind was useless.

Even if Zhang Yu was a Level 5, he was still a burden to the current Li Zhiyi.

But everyone also knew that if they just left like this, they might survive, but their hearts would be dead.

Abandoning teammates is a disgrace.

"I am not leaving," Zhang Yu said.

"Old Zhang!" The Deputy Battalion Commander seemed to have known Zhang Yu's choice all along, his teeth clenched:

"Why bother? Even if you leave, Li Zhiyi will understand.

To Li Zhiyi, we are all trash!"

"Yes!" Zhang Yu patted the Deputy Battalion Commander's shoulder:

"We are trash; think about how long Li Zhiyi has been in the Punitive Battalion, and he has already grown to this point.

If we are trash, then Li Zhiyi is a peerless genius.

But such a genius.

He has no memories of the past; he was only punished to the army to die because he stole a Divine General's clothing."

The Deputy Battalion Commander was stunned.

Zhang Yu continued:

"Have you ever thought that Zhiyi has never had a sense of belonging to Great Xia?

Have you ever thought that deep down, Zhiyi actually hates Great Xia more?"

The Deputy Battalion Commander's eyes trembled; what Zhang Yu said, he had never thought of.

But now that Zhang Yu said it this way, he suddenly realized it was indeed so.

"I am selfish!" Zhang Yu said earnestly:

"I am the Battalion Commander of the Punitive Battalion; how could I abandon the soldiers under my command and flee alone?"

"Besides, if I leave, Zhiyi will become completely disillusioned with the Great Xia!"

Zhang Yu gave a bitter smile.

What kind of people had Li Zhiyi encountered?

Si Wenyi, who would rather punish Li Zhiyi and send him to his death than see Chen Yan suffer the slightest humiliation.

Huo Fu, a selfish man who treated Li Zhiyi as a human bomb.

Li Zhiyi actually harbored hatred toward the Great Xia.

Yet, Li Zhiyi was also a peerless genius.

"I want to use my death to make Zhiyi understand that the Great Xia is not actually that bad."

"I, Zhang Yu, am very weak, but if I die before him, my death can create a thread of connection between him and the Great Xia."

"To bind him to the Great Xia—I am being selfish, I am calculating against him..."

A sense of shame surfaced in the depths of Zhang Yu's eyes.

He looked up at the sky:

"Do you know, the appearance of the Heavenly God General was a blessing for our Great Xia."

"Not just me, but millions upon millions of Great Xia citizens were convinced that the Heavenly God General could lead the Great Xia and the human race toward true glory."

"At that time, everyone thought so; even though we all believed in the Lord of Will, the Lord of Will never appeared—only the Heavenly God General did."

"But the Heavenly God General died. I had resented him in my heart: why did he have to launch a surprise attack on Ji Province?"

"I had been dissatisfied with him: why did he give us such great expectations only to vanish suddenly like a fleeting shadow?"

His hands gripped the Deputy Battalion Commander, his eyes filled with hot tears:

"But if I were given a chance to trade my life, I would be willing to use my life ten thousand times, a hundred million times, to bring back Chen Yan's resurrection."

"Do you know? When Zhiyi fought the great battle against Ji Tianhe, I had a moment of trance—just a moment, a split second."

"I actually..."

Zhang Yu's eyes widened:

"I actually saw the Heavenly God General in him. In that fleeting instant, I thought he was Chen Yan!"

"I believe he will... he will definitely stand at the pinnacle of the heavens; he will become another God General!"

Stared at by Zhang Yu like this, the Deputy Battalion Commander felt almost suffocated.

The next moment.

Hot tears welled up in the Deputy Battalion Commander's eyes.

His body trembling, he knelt down directly and kowtowed to Zhang Yu:

"Big Brother!"

"I will definitely make sure the Punitive Battalion survives!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!!!

The Deputy Battalion Commander's forehead was covered in dirt; he then stood up, looked deeply at Zhang Yu, and turned to leave.

Both men knew that perhaps this was their final meeting in life.

As the Deputy Battalion Commander walked away, he suddenly stopped and bowed to Zhang Yu:

"Long live the Great Xia!"

Zhang Yu's breath hitched, and he also bowed:

"Long live the human race!"

At the same time.

Inside the deep forest.

Li Zhiyi was filled with golden light, and a touch of emotion surfaced in his eyes, which were overflowing with golden radiance.

"Human race..."

He murmured aloud, unaware of what Zhang Yu and the Deputy Battalion Commander had said.

Although Li Zhiyi could not practice tempering or blood-Qi, his self-created Will martial art, 【Will Bestowed Upon My Body】, could allow his will to empower his physical body, strengthening it and enhancing his perception.

The entire conversation between the two had been heard by Li Zhiyi.

"Meeting death to set a trap, ensuring I cannot sever my connection with the Great Xia..." Li Zhiyi opened his mouth:

"But why bother? I always feel that in the past, many people died because of me, many lived because of me, and many revered me as a god."

"Entering the military, perhaps it is karma, perhaps it is inevitable..."

He spoke the vague feelings in his heart, and the next instant, he looked at the Blood Brand in his hand:

"I can feel that you view the human race as mere objects; the death of the human race makes you powerful."

"You despise me, you mock me, you disdain me."

As Li Zhiyi spoke, the Blood Brand in his hand suddenly erupted with blood-red light, as if responding to Li Zhiyi.

"Vile creature!" Li Zhiyi said indifferently, and his scorching power of will suddenly erupted.

【Will Bestowed Upon My Body】, activate!

At this moment, the power of will empowered Li Zhiyi's physical body, transforming into substantial force to thoroughly attack the Blood Brand.

The next moment.

Hum, hum, hum!

The fifth-ranked divine artifact under heaven, the Blood Brand, actually began to tremble in fear.

Suddenly,

Boom!

A blinding beam of blood-red light shot into the sky in an instant, pouring into the high heavens to transform into a sea of blood; the vast, blood-colored expanse suppressed the heavens and earth, making it impossible for anyone to look up.

In an instant.

Countless people noticed the change in the sky.

Li Zhiyi's eyes narrowed:

"Afraid?"

He laughed out loud, and at this moment, his power of will poured completely into the body of the Blood Brand blade.

Every structure and secret of the Blood Brand was now being meticulously devoured by Li Zhiyi, just like wheat with its husk peeled away.

At the same time, 【Will Bestowed Upon My Body】 was applied to Li Zhiyi's consciousness.

Li Zhiyi's thinking broke its limits and began to analyze frantically.

Hum, hum, hum!

The Blood Brand vibrated incessantly, actually wanting to flee; it had originally been like a beast waiting to devour people, but now it was like a stray dog encountering a wolf.

The divine artifact Blood Brand suddenly discovered that the Blood Gu it had previously disdained was actually a beast capable of devouring it clean.

"Too late," Li Zhiyi said indifferently.

At the same time.

On the battlefield.

"Come!" Chen Min slashed out with his sword, and the Five-Clan military guards before him were slaughtered as easily as chopping melons and vegetables.

"Madman, madman!"

Many Five-Clan military guards spoke in a panic.

This Chen Min was simply a madman; although he was not as crazed as Ji Tianhe, his fighting will was even more terrifying.

Chen Min gave a ferocious laugh, and the next moment he looked at the sky that had turned blood-red.

"Blood Brand..."

Chen Min murmured, looking at that pillar of blood-red light rising from the Green Mountain into the clouds.

He knew that the Blood Brand must have undergone some kind of change.

The blood-red color in the sky was clearly murderous intent as vast as the sea.

And it was at this moment.

Boom!

The sea of blood above the sky suddenly poured down, and endless blood-red light surged into Chen Min, instantly enveloping him.

While inside the blood-red light, Chen Min's eyes flashed, revealing a look of astonishment.

At this moment, he had actually formed a trace of a connection with the Blood Brand.

"Blood Brand... you want to choose me as your master?" Chen Min exclaimed in surprise.

The murderous intent surging into his body carried the will of the Blood Brand, clearly telling Chen Min that Chen Min was the master most suitable for it.

At the same time.

Countless senses from both the Great Xia and the Five Clans struck out.

Voices of astonishment rose one after another:

"The Blood Brand has changed owners again; I didn't expect it to be Chen Min."

"It's actually Chen Min; the Blood Brand must absolutely not be handed over to Chen Min!"

"That madman!"

"As expected, I was wondering why the Blood Brand would choose a nobody as its master; now that Chen Min has been chosen, I find it much more reasonable."

"What is that Li Zhiyi doing, to actually make the Blood Brand abandon him..."

Powerful individuals discussed it incessantly.

But how could they know that the Blood Brand changing owners this time was not because it disliked Li Zhiyi.

It was because...

The Blood Brand wanted to escape.