amaotonovel Chapter 337 Black Hand
Chapter 337 Black Hand
"Your son naturally knows."
Zhou Tianxuan clapped his hands and chuckled. Two silver-armored guards immediately placed their dragon-slaying knives on the Deep Sea King's neck. "When my father ascended the throne here, he personally slew the nine-headed evil dragon. Today, I dare you to show me your prowess once more."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Mingde suddenly started coughing violently, and the sacrificial text in his hand fell to the ground with a crash.
When the old prime minister knelt down to pick it up, his beard was covered with incense ash - he clearly saw that the swords of those Tianxing Guards were all unsheathed three inches!
"Your Majesty!" Zhao Mingde suppressed his shock, looked at the sun in the sky, and shouted hoarsely, "It's past three quarters past noon! If we don't start now, it will be too late."
………………
The Deep Sea King was held at the neck by two silver-armored soldiers with long swords. The sharp blades left shallow blood marks on his damaged skin.
But he didn't care at all. Instead, he grinned with a playful smile.
His eyes wandered among the crowd, as if he was enjoying a farce.
Zhou Li clenched his fists, his knuckles turned white from the force, and the veins on the back of his hands bulged.
He stared at Zhou Tianxuan's unruly face, wishing he could punch him and let this kid know his place.
But when he saw those eyes that were exactly the same as his own when he was young, a complex emotion surged in his heart.
This is his own flesh and blood, one of his only two sons left in this world.
"If I had known this would happen, I should have had more children..."
Zhou Li felt regretful and his eyes unconsciously glanced at Empress Dowager Li in the distance.
She remained dignified and majestic, with her eyes slightly lowered, as if she was oblivious to the dispute between father and son.
Zhou Li smiled bitterly in his heart. He was obsessed with cultivation back then and didn't care about the matter of offspring, but now he has ended up in this situation.
One son is arrogant and domineering, the other is indecisive, and it is difficult to choose a decent successor.
Zhao Mingde stood beside the altar. A corner of the sacrificial text in his hand was soaked with sweat, and the ink was slightly blurred.
He looked up at the setting sun, and its golden afterglow shone on the altar, casting a solemn halo.
Time was running out, so he had to whisper a reminder once again: "Your Majesty, the time has come, the ceremony really should begin."
Zhou Tianxuan stood aside, his arms folded across his chest, a nonchalant smile on his face, as if he had no reverence for the sacrifice at all.
He even yawned lazily and urged, "Father, since everyone is waiting, why don't we get started quickly? After the eulogy is finished, it won't be too late for you to teach me a lesson later."
Zhou Tianhao stood between the two of them, his eyes flickering, looking a little at a loss.
He opened his mouth as if wanting to persuade, but in the end he said nothing and just lowered his head silently.
Empress Dowager Li finally moved. She walked slowly forward, followed by a group of court officials.
Her gaze was as sharp as a knife, coldly sweeping over Zhou Tianxuan, then stopping at Zhou Li, her voice steady and majestic: "Your Majesty, the sacrifice ceremony is a major national event and cannot be delayed."
Zhou Li took a deep breath and suppressed the anger in his heart.
This is not the time to deal with household matters.
He reached out and took the sacrificial text handed to him by Zhao Mingde, turned around and faced the ministers, his spiritual power surged around him, and his voice spread out like a huge bell, echoing throughout the entire Great Zhou Mountain.
"Heaven and Earth, ancestors..."
His voice was filled with powerful spiritual energy, and the people at the foot of the mountain were still in an uproar.
But when this solemn sacrificial text sounded, everyone fell silent, knelt on the ground, and looked devoutly toward the top of the mountain.
After a while, the memorial was finished.
Suddenly, a golden flame ignited out of thin air in the center of the altar. The flame danced, devouring the sacrificial text bit by bit, and finally turned it into ashes.
A breeze blew, and the ashes drifted into the sky, as if carrying everyone's prayers, rising into the sky.
Zhou Li turned around slowly and looked at Zhou Tianxuan deeply, with a hint of coldness in his eyes.
The ceremony officially began.
Seeing this, Zhou Tianxuan curled up his lips into a cold smile, a ruthless look flashed in his eyes, and he suddenly waved his hand and shouted:
"cut!"
The two silver-armored soldiers moved upon hearing the order, the long swords in their hands flashed with a cold light, the blades cut through the air, making a piercing scream, and went straight for the neck of the Deep Sea King!
However, just when the blade was about to touch the skin——
"Crack!"
The black iron shackles on the Deep Sea King's wrists suddenly broke, and fragments flew everywhere like a rainstorm.
His hands were as fast as lightning, his five fingers formed into claws, and he instantly pierced through the breastplates of the two soldiers!
"Pfft-"
The sound of flesh being torn apart was horrifying.
The two soldiers didn't even have time to scream before they watched their hearts being ripped out alive and crushed in the Deep Sea King's palm!
Scarlet blood flowed through his fingers and dripped onto the bluestone of the altar, making a "hissing" corrosion sound.
A breeze blew across the top of the mountain, and a strong smell of blood suddenly spread.
The ministers who were watching the ceremony from afar felt as if they had fallen into an ice cellar, and several civil servants' legs went weak and they collapsed on the ground.
Zhou Tianxuan's pupils suddenly shrank, and the pride on his face froze in an instant.
His fingers trembled uncontrollably, and his voice changed: "You...how could you..."
The Deep Sea King stretched his muscles and bones, and his joints made crackling sounds.
He yawned lazily, and licked the blood at the corner of his mouth with his scarlet tongue:
"If I didn't want to see this good show, I would have left long ago."
He suddenly grinned, revealing his sharp white fangs. "To thank you for your hospitality, I decided... to kill you last."
"presumptuous!"
Zhou Li roared like thunder, and the black long-handled knife was unsheathed with a "clang", and the blade was wrapped in dark evil spirit.
The pressure of Duan Chen's peak strength exploded, and the stone slabs of the entire altar cracked "crackingly". The air seemed to be grasped by an invisible giant hand, and even the falling leaves were frozen in mid-air!
The Deep Sea King's blood-red pupils shrank slightly, and his body suddenly twisted into a vortex of blood mist.
With a whoosh, he appeared in the center of the ministers, arms spread out like the wings of a demon. "Old thing, I'll come back to deal with you later. Become my food!"
"what--!"
Screams came and went.
The Minister of Rites who was standing nearby suddenly began to twitch all over, and his skin shriveled up at a speed visible to the naked eye. In the blink of an eye, he turned into a skeleton wrapped in human skin.
Blood-colored energy flowed into the Deep Sea King's body like a stream, and the wound on his shoulder blade pierced by the King's Sword began to wriggle and heal!
"How dare you, evil beast!"
The national defender General Tie Zhan roared, and the huge bronze axe came down with the force of splitting a mountain.
The Deep Sea King didn't even turn his head, but grabbed the axe blade with his backhand!
With the teeth-grinding sound of metal twisting, the fine steel axe was twisted into a dough like dough.
Before Tie Zhan could let go, a bloody claw pierced his chest—
"boom!"
A blood mist exploded in the sky and was sucked into the mouth of the Deep Sea King like a whale.
He exhaled a breath of blood with satisfaction, and a faint dark light flowed under his skin. His originally pale face actually regained some redness.