Talented Martial Hero novel Chapter 642

After the Chief Elder's words, everyone straightened their back, ears perked up for any attacks.

It wasn't unusual to encounter any powerful creatures here. Moreover, there had also been rumors spreading of a red-haired monster lurking in the Life Forbidden Zone.

Darren himself had spotted a red figure while he was observing the picture presented by Elder Walt.

They probed the place with their spiritual senses for a long time, but they found nothing.

It was like the calm before the storm, and as each minute of silence passed, the more anxious they started to feel. It felt like someone was watching them from a distance.

"Let's keep going. According to the Jade Slip, we can step forward when we reach the land with hills," the Chief Elder said. With that, he flew down into a deep hole. With a bounce, he rushed to the land with hills.

Darren and the others also followed, arriving to the land of the hills a second after the Chief Elder did.

"There's really nothing to be scared about."

"Look! There's something red in the cliff!" an elder shouted, pointing to the direction where he spotted the red hue.

"It's the Holy Will Blood Lotus!" One look at it, the Chief Elder jumped in surprise, blurting out what he had just seen. With not a minute to waste, he flew towards the direction.

The rest of them followed.

As they got closer, Darren could now make out a red lotus the size of a millstone. It was sitting on the cliff, standing steadily against the wind.

The red lotus was made up of hundreds of small petals. Within each petal, one could make out tiny veins that stretched across the color—looking as if blood was flowing through one petal to the next.

"It smells so good." Hobson took a deep breath.

"The Holy Will Blood Lotus is extremely valuable. Chief Elder, please extract it and break through to the Holy Realm at once."

Ivan glanced at the blood lotus, envy pouring into his gaze. What he really wanted to do was to keep it to himself.

"Ignorant boy." The Chief Elder glanced at him indifferently.

"Umm... Why did you say that, Chief Elder?" Elder Queena, who was standing beside the crowd, asked in confusion.

What was wrong with refining this precious treasure? Why was Ivan ignorant for suggesting it?

"It is recorded in the Jade Slip that the Holy Will Blood Lotus grew from a stone stained by the blood of a great martial artist and accumulated after countless years of evolution. Although it contains the Holy Will of the ancient martial artist, his Holy Will may be different from ours—given the length of time it resided here. If we extract it ourselves by force, our bodies might not be able to handle it. We'll die," the Chief Elder explained.

"I see, but doesn't that render the flower useless?"

Walt looked at the beautiful blood lotus, frowning. Such beauty turned out to be useless to them all. It was a shame.

"Bullshit!" The Chief Elder cursed again.

The elders hid their faces from the Chief's outburst, aghast at his language.

"This is not just useful but extremely precious to us. We just need to use it the right way. It seems that I should cooperate with the people of the Divine Mountain Sect to refine the blood lotus into pills. After doing that, Darren and Hobson will receive one pill for each, while each of the elders will receive two. The rest will be given to the master."

"Thank you very much, Chief Elder!" The elders brightened up at his words, delighted that they were all able to benefit from the manifestation.

As soon as the Chief Elder finished his words, a black shovel appeared in his hands. He used it to carefully cut the root of the lotus.

As soon as the Chief Elder's shovel sank into the ground, a stream of blood spurted out on his body.

He stepped back hurriedly, furrowing his eyebrows.

"I didn't cut the root, why is there blood?" The Chief Elder glanced around, trying to look for the source.

"It's the stone sir!" Hobson shouted.

He didn't get to finish his words before the Chief Elder screamed.

The others immediately turned at the shrieking sound, before gasping. The blood that had coated his skin had turned his body black. His veins started popping out as it dried up from any color or moisture. They were rotting. Half of his face was already corroded.

The Chief Elder dropped the shovel almost immediately and retreated, the flower laying there completely untouched. Seeing this, Darren and the others flew back.

Once they reached safer grounds, the Chief Elder sat crossed legged on the ground. Before anyone could react, he grabbed a knife and scraped it over his skin—cutting off all the affected areas as he gritted his teeth.

With a brave face, he peeled and removed every single one of them.

The scene left anyone aghast, as some even hid their faces behind their hands at the sight.

"Send me the spiritual energy, quick!" the Chief Elder shouted, his voice trembling as he ripped off another layer of skin.

The elders gave each other a look, hesitating at the dreadful sight before flying around him, filling the Chief Elder's body with spiritual energy.

They continued doing it for an hour, piling over him with the energy. He was drenched with his own blood. It was a macabre sight.

After a few more moments of surrounding him, a bloody mist poured out of his mouth.

The mist took shape of a human form before dissipating in sight.

"Give me the healing pills," he demanded.

The elders hurriedly poured the pills into his mouth. Four hours later, his flesh started to grow back, healing from the cuts and scars that he had left behind. Though it seemed as if nothing had happened, his face was stark pale from the exhaustion and pain he went through.

"Chief Elder, what happened just now?" the others questioned, prying over to get a better look once he was better.

He frowned in reply as he flexed his fingers. When nothing happened, he slumped back. "It was the poison," he said bitterly. "I've been paralyzed. I'm unable to use my energy at all."

"So it really was poison. We thought the creature had gotten a hold of you," one of them rang out while the others sighed in relief.

"The poison's my only guess. I honestly don't know if it's a creature's doing or not." He shrugged. His words only seemed to alarm the others even more.

"Hobson, go and dig the Holy Will Blood Lotus. Be careful not to get any of that blood on you," Ivan immediately ordered.

"Umm... Elder Ivan, powerful as the Chief Elder, he couldn't handle the blood. How is it possible for me to succeed in digging the lotus? Hobson took two steps back, glancing towards the Chief Elder's state.

"Are you disobeying our order, Hobson? Didn't you hear Elder Ivan's words? Hurry up or we will file you for disobedience," Walt snapped. The others didn't dare speak, even the Chief Elder, indicating that they all agreed with Ivan's decision.

Hobson gritted his teeth, wanting no more than to be rid of all those bastards. However, even with the murderous thoughts running through his mind, he still picked up the shovel and trudged towards the Holy Will Blood Lotus. If he disobeyed them now, he'd meet death sooner than he'd thought.

"Stop!"

someone shouted out loud. Almost immediately, a Fringe Holy Will burst in front of Hobson. The man stumbled a few steps back.

"We saw this precious thing first! You want it? Well, it's over our dead body!"

Several figures appeared in front of them, blocking the way to the lotus.

"The Golden Sacred Sect!"

They were none other than the elders of the Golden Sacred Sect, powerful in their own right.

"Chief Elder, what should we do?" They all sent a message to their Chief Elder, glancing over at the standing man.

"Let's set a diversion. We'll let them get the blood lotus. Once they get stained, we'll start the attack." The Chief Elder informed all of them, and they all straightened their back at the newfound mission.

"It's us who found the blood lotus first, and we're here to claim it. You think you can take it from us? I'd like to see you try." Ivan snorted, jeering at them. He took a step forward as if daring them to spar with him.

The other sect burst into laughter. "You think you found it first so it's yours? Are you kidding? Even if you did, if we're going to take it from you, what can you do?" One of them stepped forward. "You want a fight? We'll give you one!"

The elders of the Golden Sacred Sect released their Fringe Holy Will at the same time, which made Darren and Hobson step back. The bright power made them all feel the pressure as the tension surged through each and every one of them.

"Forget it." The Chief Elder interrupted. "There's no need to fight with these bastards. We'll go look somewhere else."

"Chief Elder, no! We can do this. If we retreat now, they'll think of us as cowards," Ivan insisted.

"Yes, he's right, Chief Elder! We will fight them to death!" The others agreed, pretending to be anxious at the sight of the elders before them.

"Silence! We're here for treasure, nothing else. If we all die now, how could our quest continue? We'll both be losing something if we go head-to-head with these bastards. Have you forgotten what I said?" he demanded, like a father lecturing his son.

"Yes, Chief Elder." All of them slumped back, disappointed that they wouldn't be able to go head-to-head with them.

One of the elders of the Golden Sacred Sect snorted. "Old man, you're pretty smart after all.

Let's go and get the treasures together!"

The leader of the group of elders from the Golden Sacred Sect strutted over the blood lotus, feeling as if he had finally won the battle. He glanced over his shoulders with a snotty look. The Dragon Chasing Sect was afraid to face them!

"Get ready to attack and kill!" The Chief Elder sent a message to the crowd, steadying his stance. This would be the fight they were all waiting for.