Chapter 155: Riding Alone Far Ahead, Black Flame Evil Dragon

"Hold on, Your Highness the First Prince. We are now approaching the outer perimeter of the Heavenly Fiend Mountain Range, just a hundred miles away from the Annan Protectorate. Fierce ghosts might lurk in the shadows. It would be unwise to make a reckless charge," the Fifth Prince hurriedly advised, while the rest of the princes maintained an indifferent expression of detached bystanders.

"Absurd! Fifth Brother, possessing imperial blood as you do, how can you be so cowardly? Do you not feel a sense of shame before our Sovereign Father?"

"You cannot put it that way. Every man to his trade. Fifth Brother's literary talent and poetry are peerless among us brothers, making even the reigning top scholar look inferior. Why must Your Highness the First Prince be so narrow-minded?"

"Hmph, Third Brother, you never miss a chance to undermine me. I have no time to bicker with you all. Advance!"

Han Chong and the other commanders and lieutenants of the Demon-Slaying Camp had not been chosen by the First Prince, and General Sun was quite content with the leisure.

...

In the darkness, the Sixth Prince walked to an uninhabited spot, pulled a small beast resembling a white-furred mouse from his sleeve, and tucked a parchment scroll into its bosom. The mouse burrowed into the earth and vanished without a trace.

An hour later, in a rocky cavern a hundred miles away, the mouse tracked its way to the destination. Under the watchful eyes of numerous ghosts, it was scooped up by a shadowy figure shrouded in black flames, who took out the parchment, read it, and smiled.

"Has it finally arrived? This lord has been waiting impatiently."

"My lord, when do we deploy? All ten of us Ghost Commanders are more than ready." A pitch-black, statue-like fiend lurking below smiled sinisterly.

"This time, it is that belligerent First Prince leading the troops himself, without any top-tier experts accompanying him. This is the perfect opportunity. Listen up, the Ten Ghost Commanders! Follow me to Caged Ravine to set an ambush. We must capture him alive and give the Great Feng Emperor a rude awakening."

At that moment, the First Prince was leading three thousand armored cavalry southward, slaughtering ghosts along the way. He glanced at the Demon-Slaying Spirit Talisman at his waist, watching its recorded points steadily rise with a faint smirk. He thought to himself that his royal brothers were truly a bunch of good-for-nothing fools; given such a glorious opportunity to earn merit, they had cowardly retreated, proving themselves utterly foolish.

Indeed, just as he anticipated, ever since the Emperor distributed the Demon-Slaying Spirit Talisman at noon and hung the Demon-Slaying Rankings before the imperial carriage, only five names adorned the list: the First Prince, the Sixth Prince, the Third Prince, and the Grand Generals of the Left and Right Dragon-Martial Guards.

Right now, the rest of the princes looked at the First Prince pulling far ahead on the leaderboard and felt intense regret. Had they known, they would have also led troops out to hunt ghosts and seized the initiative.

"Look! The First Prince has slain another ghost general, shooting up by one,300 points!" a Yulin imperial general whispered in low tones.

...

Han Chong also stood near the imperial carriage with the other imperial generals, observing the rankings. He wondered who possessed such miraculous craftsmanship to devise this Demon-Slaying Ranking, capable of calculating the strength of ghosts via spirit talismans and displaying it intuitively on the board.

At a rough glance, slaying a ghost soldier yielded anywhere from a few dozen to several tens of points, while a ghost general was worth two to three hundred up to over a thousand points.

With the First Prince's combat prowess, slaying ghost-commander-grade powerhouses was likely as effortless as cutting melons and vegetables.

As time passed, the observers gradually noticed that the intervals between the First Prince slaying ghost-general-grade entities were growing shorter and shorter. He simply could not stop; it was almost as if those powerful ghosts were willingly sticking their necks out and delivering themselves to his blade!

Han Chong frowned slightly. Could it be that the ghosts in the Heavenly Fiend Mountain Range had already become this dense? Back in Yunzhou and Qiongzhou, there had been only a few dozen ghost generals at most, yet in half a night, the First Prince had already slaughtered nearly twenty of them!

No, logically speaking, for every ten ghost-general-grade powerhouses, there should be at least one ghost commander ruling over them. Why had not a single one appeared?

Han Chong was not the only one to notice this anomaly; the Emperor, the Eighth Prince, and Grand Councilor Jin all harbored suspicions in their hearts.

...

"Reporting to Your Majesty, this humble general believes that the First Prince's expedition may entail grave peril. I beg Your Majesty's permission; this general is willing to go and provide reinforcements."

"Heh, General Han is overly worried. With the First Prince's might, there are probably very few in the entire Great Feng Dynasty capable of defeating him," the Third Prince said with a shaking head and a smile.

"Indeed. Could it be that General Han fancies himself a match for the First Prince?" the Seventh Prince sneered.

"Silence! General Han's loyalty and devotion are pure. You should all learn more from him instead of slandering and defaming him. What kind of behavior is this? Since Lord Han has doubts and wishes to go reinforce him, you may trouble yourself with this trip."

"This general obeys your decree." Han Chong bowed and departed, galloping toward the true south. Unfortunately, the night sky was pitch black, and he could only track the flickering fires one by one.

However, the Heavenly Fiend Mountain Range was a labyrinth of towering ravines and winding paths. The three thousand elite troops the First Prince initially led had long since become largely scattered as the slaughter of ghost generals grew smoother and smoother, leaving only a dozen deputy generals trailing behind him.

"Your Highness, this place is a maze of overlapping peaks, and we have penetrated deep into the outer reaches of the Heavenly Fiend Mountain Range. Any further forward, and disaster may strike!" a deputy general cupped his fists and advised.

Yet the First Prince was already blinded by bloodlust. His mind was entirely consumed by visions of his Imperial Father's approving smile before the imperial carriage and the expressions of his envious, jealous, and frustrated brothers beating their chests back at camp.

"Bulls***! Mere ghost generals are not even worthy of carrying my shoes, unable to withstand a single casual blow of mine. Where is the danger? This is precisely the time to build merit for the court. Follow closely behind me, and upon our return to the capital, each of you will be rewarded with a thousand taels of gold and promoted by a rank. Charge with me!"

In the forest dozens of yards ahead, three vengeful phantom slaves bared their fangs, spitting out black orbs of light toward the First Prince before turning to flee wildly. The First Prince swuffed his sleeve dismissively as if swatting flies, turning all the light orbs into dust, and laughed heartily as he gave chase.

After slaying two ghosts, the last one rounded a corner into an annular mountain basin, followed closely by the entire retinue.

Suddenly, the First Prince's heart skipped a beat as he sensed ten formidable auras erupting around them. Surveying the surrounding peaks, which resembled a prison, a bad omen struck him.

"Not good! It's a trap, fall back!" However, a giant resembling a ball of fire plummeted from the sky to block their retreat, casually hurling dozens of clusters of ghost flames into the midst of the generals.

The surrounding temperature plummeted drastically, and shrill screams filled the air. The moment the dozen deputy generals brushed against the ghost flames, they were instantly incinerated into ash.

Filled with shock and fury, the First Prince wielded a giant sword in both hands, slashing wildly as golden light surged everywhere. With a flick of his sleeve, the Golden Dragon Immortal-Binding Sash slithered out like a fish, transforming into a golden dragon that coiled toward the ghost-flame giant.

The latter howled like a ghost, resembling a fire god from the netherworld. The black flames condensed into the shape of a malevolent flood dragon, shaking its head and whipping its tail to incinerate all living things. The First Prince felt the residual imperial destiny within his body depleting rapidly, while he himself felt an all-encompassing chill that threatened to freeze his flesh and blood solid.

Left with no other choice, he spread his arms and roared toward the heavens, channeling the dynasty's destiny to flood into his body.

The dynasty's destiny could not be channeled without limit; every time it was invoked beyond one's station, it would backfire on the physical body, rendering it impossible to use again in the short term.

Yet at this moment, he could no longer care about such things. The fierce ghost before him was well-versed in extreme yin ghost flames, easily possessing the power of a Void-Return powerhouse, or perhaps even a mid-stage Void-Return expert.

Having been plotted against by this fiend and ambushed by ten ghost commanders, the slightest lapse in judgment would mean death and annihilation.

Deep within the pitch-black night sky, a thin stream of continuous golden glow poured vertically downward into his body. Clad in dragon scales and swelling to a height of over ten feet, the First Prince once again unleashed the Golden Dragon Illuminates the World secret technique.