Previously, Ji Xiuning had sent a Heavenly Guardian Knight north to return to the headquarters of the Divine Dragon Holy Temple and request reinforcements.
A full month later, the reinforcements from the Divine Dragon Holy Temple arrived.
At the head was the retired Grand Inquisitor of the Yan Capital Holy Temple, Bai Lang, who had once been the highest martial arts arbiter of the Divine Dragon Holy Temple. He led three hundred Heavenly Guardian Knights through the Aurora Gate north of the human kingdoms, entered the desert of the Southern Wilderness, and then flew over the Sea of Doom.
Bai Lang seemed to be a very contradictory person.
Looking at his face, one would think he was only thirty years old, but looking into his eyes, one would see an extremely weathered look, as if he were over a hundred years old. His actual age was fifty three.
At fifty three, he was still considered to be in the prime of his strength within the Divine Dragon Holy Temple.
Yet he had already retired.
Within the Divine Dragon Holy Temple, Bai Lang was a legendary figure.
His martial power was astonishing.
People had always said that Bai Lang was the strongest expert of the Divine Dragon Holy Temple on the ground.
He was also extremely obsessed with martial arts. Ten years ago, he had challenged Jiang Shang, the strongest expert in the human kingdoms.
In the first battle, he lost in five moves.
In the second battle, he lost in ten moves.
In the third battle, he lost in fifty moves.
In the fourth battle, he lost in one hundred moves.
For the next six years, he never challenged Jiang Shang again.
From another perspective, this also showed just how powerful his cultivation was.
Zhiyan, Ji Xiuning, Huai Bingyi, and Ji Mengbai had all been taught by him.
How powerful was Zhiyan? How powerful was Ji Xiuning?
If his students were already this powerful, what about their teacher?
This man had made enormous contributions to the Divine Dragon Holy Temple. Therefore, before he was even forty five, he became the Grand Inquisitor of the Yan Capital Divine Dragon Holy Temple, an absolute miracle within the Divine Dragon Holy Temple.
However, this man was unpredictable. Nobody knew what he was thinking. He was also cold, arrogant, and ruthless. He had opposed a certain Sky Priest several times. Even more seriously, he had killed the son of a certain Demon Sect master. Therefore, he was forced into early retirement at only fifty three.
Now, the Sky Holy Temple had actually sent him to support Ji Xiuning, appointing him as the commander of the Heavenly Guardian Knights.
The reason he was called Bai Lang, White Wolf, was because he had suffered from albinism since childhood. Not only was his hair white, even his eyebrows, eyelashes, and nose hair were white.
Moreover, he was as fierce as a wolf. Over time, everyone began calling him White Wolf and eventually forgot his original name.
…
At this moment, Bai Lang floated above the Sea of Doom.
A month had already passed. Ji Xiuning had long since disappeared without a trace, but the Sea of Doom still retained intense traces of energy.
Bai Lang had no wings, yet he extravagantly used demonic power to float above the Sea of Doom.
He clearly saw certain energy trails, seeing what had happened a month earlier.
He saw one Heavenly Guardian Knight after another being killed. Then he saw Ji Xiuning use her final life saving demonic technique to seal herself inside an energy shell before being taken away by the Witch Nation warriors.
He closed his eyes and gently sniffed.
“Blue Sea Banner…” he muttered.
“My lord, what did you discover?” a Heavenly Guardian Knight commander beside him asked.
Bai Lang said, “All the Heavenly Guardian Knights were killed, and Ji Xiuning was taken away.”
The Heavenly Guardian Knight commander was shocked. There were actually people in this world who dared to attack the Divine Dragon Holy Temple? They had even dared to take away the Saintess of the Divine Dragon Holy Temple?
“Who could be so bold? Do they want their entire race destroyed?” the Heavenly Guardian Knight commander asked.
“Witch Nation warriors,” Bai Lang said.
“My lord, should we go to the Witch Nation and demand justice from the Witch Queen?” the Heavenly Guardian Knight commander asked.
“What justice?” Bai Lang asked.
The Heavenly Guardian Knight commander said, “The Witch Nation dared to kill our people and capture Saintess Ji Xiuning. The Divine Dragon Holy Temple is supreme, so of course we must demand justice.”
Bai Lang said calmly, “We invaded someone else’s territory. What was wrong with them killing the Heavenly Guardian Knights and capturing Ji Xiuning?”
The Heavenly Guardian Knight commander said, “The demon alliance signed a treaty with the Divine Dragon Holy Temple. The Divine Dragon Holy Temple has the right to enter demon territory and capture the remnants of the Ghost King.”
Bai Lang said, “The Witch Nation withdrew from the demon alliance. They did not sign it.”
The Heavenly Guardian Knight commander immediately gave Bai Lang a cold look.
Why did that sound so disloyal?
No wonder the Sky Holy Temple had suppressed this astonishingly powerful Bai Lang and forced him into retirement at only fifty three. He really did not know how to speak properly.
“Are we just going to sit back and do nothing?” the Heavenly Guardian Knight commander asked.
“Who said that?” Bai Lang said. “We will attack the Blue Sea Banner and rescue Ji Xiuning.”
After saying this, he leapt onto his Phantom Mount and flew towards the islands of the Blue Sea Banner.
…
During this period, Ji Xiuning had truly suffered a catastrophe.
As Little Witch Lan Mei’s first experimental subject, her body had been modified countless times.
She could no longer remember how many demonic beast bloodlines and bone marrow injections Little Witch Lan Mei had put into her body, nor how much demon blood she had injected.
Not only that, she had actually sewn the tail of the Ming Race onto Ji Xiuning’s body.
It had failed five times, with none of the tails surviving.
But on the sixth attempt, she actually succeeded. The tail of the most depraved Ming Race among the demons had truly survived and grown on Ji Xiuning’s body.
Not only that, she had also replaced the entire outer layer of Ji Xiuning’s skin with the skin of a snake demon.
Why use snake demon skin?
Because this particular snake demon could become invisible at critical moments.
Finally, she began transplanting all kinds of wings onto Ji Xiuning’s body, because Little Lan Mei did not want to rely on a phoenix mount. She wanted to fly freely by herself.
But so far, all her experiments had failed.
None of the wings could survive on Ji Xiuning’s body.
Yet she remained completely absorbed in the experiments.
There were also many smaller experiments, such as testing all kinds of deadly poisons, hallucinogenic drugs, and other substances on Ji Xiuning.
In just over half a month, she no longer knew how many poisons and strange medicines she had forced into Ji Xiuning’s body.
Moreover, after each experiment, she constantly adjusted the formulas.
In short, Ji Xiuning had previously been boiled in volcanic lava, corroded by giant serpent waste, and thrown from an altitude of ten thousand metres to suffer catastrophic injuries.
She had thought that was a nightmare.
Compared with what she was experiencing now, that had been heaven.
Now was hell, a true nightmare.
Not only that, her abdomen had already begun to swell gradually.
Furthermore, Little Witch Lan Mei’s experiments seemed to cause no harm whatsoever to the unborn child. Instead, they seemed to make the foetus particularly excited.
In short, Ji Xiuning now felt as though she were sinking into hell every moment of every day.
…
These hellish days passed one after another.
Suddenly, one day, the self ringing crystal bell of the Blue Sea Banner began to sound violently.
Then hundreds and thousands of enormous giant serpents began spraying poisonous liquid into the sky.
The giant serpents were the guardian beasts of the Blue Sea Banner.
Each giant serpent was more than one hundred metres long. They coiled around the edges of the Blue Sea Islands, and whenever they sensed an invading enemy, they immediately sprayed poison.
Their poison could reach several thousand metres into the sky. It travelled incredibly fast, faster than an arrow released from a bow, and its accuracy was terrifying.
Not only that, their poison could corrode most substances in this world. Therefore, whether someone wore armour or carried a shield, it was useless.
These giant serpents were practically anti air killing machines.
With the giant serpents present, no large scale airborne force could possibly break through the aerial defences and invade the territory of the Blue Sea Banner.
“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…”
Thousands of green beams suddenly shot into the sky.
These were the giant serpents’ deadly poisons.
The three hundred Heavenly Guardian Knights led by Bai Lang scattered and dodged.
Their Phantom Mounts were already extremely fast, yet they still could not evade the giant serpents’ poison.
After being sprayed into the sky, the poison immediately became a poisonous mist, completely covering the entire airspace.
The Phantom Mounts were energy creatures, so they were not afraid of the poison.
Demon Sect level experts could release demonic power to create energy shields and repel the poisonous mist.
However, the Heavenly Guardian Knights below the Demon Sect level were in terrible danger. They had no way to avoid the poisonous mist completely.
“Ah… ah…”
In a short moment, many Heavenly Guardian Knights were poisoned.
They let out extremely miserable screams as their armour began to corrode, their flesh began to corrode, and their internal organs began to corrode.
Within only half a minute, these people had been reduced to pools of flesh.
Half of the three hundred Heavenly Guardian Knights had died.
This was the power of the giant serpents. With only one attack, they had killed one hundred and fifty Heavenly Guardian Knights.
These were elite knights of the Divine Dragon Holy Temple.
If they had been an ordinary airborne army, the giant serpents would have wiped them all out within minutes.
Bai Lang led the remaining one hundred and fifty Heavenly Guardian Knights through the aerial defences of the giant serpents and entered the main island of the Blue Sea Banner.
At this moment, Banner Lord Lan Qi led several thousand Witch Nation warriors riding phoenixes out to meet them. She stared at Bai Lang and asked, “Who are you?”
“Commander of the Heavenly Guardian Knights of the Divine Dragon Holy Temple, Bai Lang, temporarily,” Bai Lang introduced himself.
Lan Qi sensed an extremely powerful energy and narrowed her eyes slightly. “You have entered my territory. What do you want?”
Bai Lang said, “I want to take Saintess Ji Xiuning away.”
“Anything else?” Banner Lord Lan Qi asked.
Bai Lang said, “Nothing else. The Heavenly Guardian Knights invaded your territory and were killed. That is normal. I have no intention of seeking revenge.”
Lan Qi said, “Then what does your invasion of my territory mean?”
Bai Lang said, “Therefore, if you kill me, I will have nothing to say.”
Although Lan Qi sensed danger, she stubbornly said, “Then let me try.”
Bai Lang’s eyes focused. He immediately locked onto Ji Xiuning’s location, inside a cave several dozen kilometres away.
“Kill!” Banner Lord Lan Qi ordered.
Immediately, several thousand Witch Nation warriors charged forward.
Several thousand stunningly beautiful women charging forward was indeed a shocking sight.
However…
“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…”
Bai Lang flashed several times and immediately disappeared without a trace, appearing several thousand metres away.
He had actually abandoned the one hundred and fifty Heavenly Guardian Knights under his command, completely disregarding their lives.
That was the kind of person Bai Lang was. Nobody knew what he was thinking.
That was why the Sky Holy Temple both valued him tremendously and hated him deeply.
A moment later, Bai Lang arrived at Little Demoness Lan Mei’s experimental laboratory.
A thick stone door stood in front of him.
Bai Lang lightly struck it with his palm, and the stone door instantly shattered.
His body flashed inside.
Several dozen mechanisms and traps awaited him.
However, whether flames or poisoned arrows, none of them were even worth mentioning to him. He directly reached the depths of Little Demoness Lan Mei’s laboratory.
Then he saw Ji Xiuning in her current state.
He was completely stunned.
This… was this the Saintess of the Divine Dragon Holy Temple?
Her skin looked like that of a snake, yet also like a chameleon’s.
Countless scales covered her entire body, as though she were wearing a suit made from snake skin.
A strange tail grew from behind her, resembling a demon’s tail. Upon closer inspection, it was actually the tail of a member of the Ming Race.
Not only that, her hair had completely turned purple. It was not dyed. It had actually changed colour.
Her pupils had also turned purple.
Even her eyes had changed, no longer looking entirely human.
Bai Lang took a light sniff and immediately detected the aura of more than one hundred different bloodlines on Ji Xiuning.
She… what had she gone through?
Finally, Bai Lang’s eyes fell upon Ji Xiuning’s abdomen.
She had a visibly swollen belly.
The Saintess of the Divine Dragon Holy Temple had actually become pregnant.
Even Bai Lang was somewhat shocked.
“You, don’t come any closer, or I will kill her immediately!”
An exquisitely beautiful girl held a green dagger against Ji Xiuning’s neck.
Could all these changes to Ji Xiuning’s body really have been this young girl’s work?
If so, she was truly a born Little Witch.
Bai Lang smiled lightly and clenched his hand in the air.
Immediately, Little Witch Lan Mei’s body was lifted into the air by an invisible force. She could not move at all.
Bai Lang pulled down a large beast hide from nearby, wrapped Ji Xiuning in it, and carried her away.
Little Witch Lan Mei fell to the ground behind him. She had intended to attack Bai Lang from behind, but after hesitating for only half a second, she immediately abandoned the idea.
This man was simply too terrifying.
Bai Lang carried Ji Xiuning out.
At this moment, Banner Lord Lan Qi stood guard outside the door, sword in hand.
“Put Ji Xiuning down. She is my prisoner!” she said.
Bai Lang said calmly, “Move aside, or I will kill you.”
“Impossible…” Banner Lord Lan Qi said.
“Whoosh…”
Bai Lang’s body flashed through like lightning.
In less than 0.01 seconds, he had drawn his sword, killed his opponent, sheathed his sword, and passed through Banner Lord Lan Qi’s body.
Little Witch Lan Mei rushed out, but Bai Lang had already disappeared with Ji Xiuning.
Banner Lord Lan Qi remained standing motionless.
“Banner Lord, what happened?” Little Witch Lan Mei rushed forward and gently pushed her.
Then an extremely terrifying scene appeared.
Lan Qi’s beautiful body split directly down the middle, her entire body separating into two halves.
That single sword strike from Bai Lang had split her in two.
“Darling… you, you are my daughter. Your… your father is… Heaven…”
Banner Lord Lan Qi’s remaining spiritual energy could not finish the sentence. She collapsed to the ground and died completely.
Little Witch Lan Mei was stunned at first, then burst into tears.
“Banner Lord…”
“Mother, mother…”
At the same time, Bai Lang carried Ji Xiuning and continued to disregard the fate of the Heavenly Guardian Knights. He flashed through layer after layer of encirclement and left as though nobody was there, riding his Phantom Mount and disappearing without a trace as he flew towards the human kingdoms in the north.
The powerful Witch Nation’s Blue Sea Banner was a place he entered and left as though there were no one there.