CHAPTER 719 A MAN OF HIS WORD

On hearing what Rocky said, Woods looked at her sister with a concerned look. "Alyssa, you've already

vented your anger. Please, rest easy now," he advised. Then he turned around and took Rocky by the

arm, ready to lead him out.

When Alyssa came back to her senses, she looked at Rocky with a complicated expression on her

face. "Don't let him die. I'll ask him something some other day. For now, just bring him to the Timber

Deity Empire first," she cautioned as she bit her red lips. Then she went straight to Sabina and sealed

her spiritual power. As soon as she finished, she summoned her spirit-manipulated beast and vanished

in a blink of an eye.

"Take them to the nearest camp and closely watch them. After three days, if you don't find anything

unusual, you may let them go," Woods instructed, glancing at Sabina who was staring back at him

angrily. After a moment of hesitation, he said, "If you want to talk to him, you may as well do it now. You

may not have the chance to meet him again." Then he walked away.

"Why did you do that?" Sabina looked at Rocky, trembling.

"Because I... must be alive. And I can't... let you and them die for me..." Rocky replied with effort.

"But if you go to the Timber Deity Empire, you're betraying the Holy Dragon Empire. You'll lose owns this text.

everything you have now, including me... and everyone," Sabina said with her teeth clenched.

"I know... I will... I will go back to the Holy Dragon Empire again... Without me, you will be free... You

don't have to... follow me every day..." said Rocky, managing a smile.

"You bastard... Bastard! You must stay alive. I will look for you. I will..." During the scolding, Sabina

lowered her head so that Rocky wouldn't see her tears.

"When you are free... go home. Anyway... you have your family... Don't live alone... It can be too

lonely..." Before Rocky could finish his words, he fell to the ground and lost consciousness.

"Rocky!" Sabina cried out, fearing he was dead.

Alarmed, Woods, who was standing beside them, went up and checked what was happening. Much to

his relief, Rocky's condition wasn't critical. Looking at Sabina, he consoled, "He's not in any danger. He

just passed out, but that's nothing to worry about. When he revives, I will take good care of him."

"I will come back to look for him," Sabina said firmly.

"It seems you really..." Woods noticed how much she cared about Rocky. He wanted to tell her

something, but he hesitated in the middle of the sentence. But immediately, his tone changed.

"Take them away." he ordered coldly.

In the twinkling of an eye, his men descended on the captured group of about twenty people, tied them

up and took them away. Among the captives were Sabina and Thor.

But the men carrying Rocky took him in a different direction from the rest.

As soon as they stepped away from the spot, several other men with an imposing aura suddenly

showed up.

"Your Royal Highness, it seems our plan has played out perfectly. Rocky has betrayed the Holy Dragon

Empire. Once the news of his betrayal begins to spread out, he might never return to the Holy Dragon

Empire," the first one said. As he spoke, his eyes told of many secrets. But his words were measured,

to avoid revealing too much. At once, you could tell he was a bad guy—someone who kept dark,

disturbing secrets, like treasures stored away in a vault.

"But this is not enough. To my surprise, Rocky is quite a darling of the Timber Deity Empire. And I

suspect, their prince may orchestrate a comeback for him. This is a threat that we need to nip the bud,"

Alston said. After a short pause, he added, "The only way to ensure this is to make things so hard on

Rocky, enough to push him to a nervous breakdown."

As soon as he finished speaking, they vanished, the same way they had appeared.

After lying one full day in a coma, Rocky finally woke up. With severe injuries, he found himself in a

carriage, most of his body wrapped in gauze. He was in a lot of pain, and his spiritual power was in

disarray. But he was grateful to be still alive.

He was the first spirit manipulator of the Heavenly Stage to ever withstand the spiritual martial arts of

Alyssa who was at the Divine Stage. The fact that Rocky survived was a miracle. Fortunately, he had

been taking the magical saliva constantly and improving his physique over time. As a result, his

resistance was extraordinarily high. Also, at the critical moment, he used the secret evil power sealed

in the second layer of the spiritual soul container to save himself.

"You are awake finally. I thought you..." Rocky heard a voice.

Through much strain, he tried to prop himself up. He wanted to move himself to a comfortable position.

But the pain that shot through his back made him scream—a horrifying scream, worse than that of a

ghoul, baying for blood. He slumped back and stayed still for several minutes, his face squeezing in a

grimace.

When he finally opened his eyes, to look around, he was surprised to see Woods sitting next to him,

with a worried look on his face. To Rocky, Woods saw a friend who could help him achieve some of his

biggest dreams. But now sitting here, looking at an almost lifeless body of the same person he had

hopes in, it was a depressing twenty-four hours.

It relieved his heart when at long last, Rocky revived. However, to Woods's shock, in only a few

minutes from the time Rocky opened his eyes, he was already showing significant improvements. The

first thing that crossed his mind was not himself but Sabina and Thor.

"Where are they?" he asked. Woods waved his head and admonished, "Don't worry about that. They

are safe and secure wherever they are. However, for now, we will have to let you heal first before you

start worrying about other people."

But stubborn as ever, Rocky turned around and grabbed him by the collar. The force of his grip was so

amazingly strong.

"Relax. You let me get off the hook before this, and being an honest man, I have kept my promise to

you. I already sent them to a camp of the Timber Deity Empire. Come with me, and I will let them go

back to the Holy Dragon Empire," Woods calmly explained.

Rocky put down his hand and sat up. He brought out the magical saliva from his brocade bag, took two

drops, and began to circulate the spiritual power in his body to treat his internal injuries.

Aware of what was happening, Woods let him be. All he could do was to simply stay by quietly

watching.

About four hours later, Rocky's face turned ruddy again, his internal injuries gone, and his spiritual

power stabilized. Apart from physical injuries, he was fine.

Finally, he opened his eyes and stared at Woods.

"It might feel like I'm forcing you to join the Timber Deity Empire, but I'm sure you won't regret it. I'm

doing this because I believe you are a trustworthy person. If you help me ascend the throne, I can

guarantee, I will make you my second in command," Woods promised solemnly. Woods believed that

with the help of Rocky, his influence over the empire would shoot up. Besides, he could also count on

his sister's power. That backing would make him raise him a notch above the other princes of Timber

Deity Empire.

"Sorry, I don't think I'm interested at all," Rocky sneered. After all, he only pretended to betray the Holy

Dragon Empire. He did this just to save Sabina and others.