CHAPTER 320 THE MISHAP IN THE HOLY LAND

The sudden appearance of so many Primitive Stones startled the three grand warriors. They looked at

the precious stones with widened eyes. To everyone's astonishment, the Primitive Stones collected by

Darren were several times greater than those carried by the other superior talents.

However, before surrendering the Primitive Stones, Darren had picked out all the Primitive Stones

containing the power of the Life Rule. He wanted to give these to the Grand Blood Refiner. Since he

promised the Grand Blood Refiner, Darren would keep his word no matter what the cost.

"That's...unbelievable! Where did you get these Primitive Stones, Darren? There are so many of them!"

shouted Chad with excitement as he had never seen so many Primitive Stones in one place before.

A glint of excitement and envy sparkled in the eyes of the other two grand warriors as well. Since

Darren was Chad's underling, neither of them felt that it was appropriate to claim the stones without

Chad's permission.

"Everyone present should have a share. What do you say, Chad? It's not good to keep all the stones

for yourself," said Brian in a hurry lest Chad decided otherwise.

"I couldn't agree more, Chad. Do not forget my share for the sake of our friendship," said the female

grand warrior while winking at him seductively. Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

"You, indeed, deserve a portion of the stones as you insisted on waiting for Darren here. What about

this suggestion—I'll take half the stones, and you two split the rest? It was not easy for Darren to bring

back all these Primitive Stones, so you must award him generously in return. Do you agree?" said

Chad with a mischievous smile. Since he only needed a few more Primitive Stones to improve his

skills, he didn't mind giving the rest to his companions as a sign of his generosity.

"Of course. We will reward Darren handsomely. Thank you, Chad."

"You're a nice guy, Chad. Thank you!"

flirted the female grand warrior. The way she addressed Chad nauseated everybody present.

Each of the grand warriors collected his or her due portion from the huge pile of Primitive Stones before

offering Darren numerous valuable treasures as rewards. Unfortunately, the treasures were of little use

to Darren.

"Darren, all these gifts are worldly possessions that you can choose to keep or discard. However, this

one is different. You must carry it wherever you go in the southern land. That way, if you need our help,

you can release your spiritual sense and summon our assistance." said Chad while passing a bead to

Darren. It looked similar to the one the Grand Blood Refiner had given to him.

The only difference was that Chad's bead was filled with the spiritual intent of the three grand warriors.

Therefore, once Darren used his spiritual sense to summon their spiritual intent in the bead, all three

grand warriors would sense it and come to his rescue.

This was precisely what Darren wanted. As for the other valuable treasures or tools, he showed no

interest.

"Thank you!" Darren took the bead and cupped his hands before the three grand warriors to show his

gratitude.

"It's unnecessary for you to be so polite, Darren. We feel honored to help you as you're so talented in

martial arts. There is a great possibility that you might exceed us in the level of martial arts in just a few

decades. We might need your help with some matters then," joked Chad. But Darren could feel how

highly the three grand warriors thought of him.

What Chad and his two companions didn't know, however, was that Darren was currently very close to

a grand warrior in terms of martial arts level. So, Darren didn't have to wait for a few decades to exceed

them.

"You might have overestimated me, sir," replied Darren with a smile. With no intention of displaying his

real strength to the three grand warriors, he bade them farewell. Before leaving, he explained, "I would

like to leave now. I left for the Raksa Sea a long while ago. It's been a tiring journey."

"All right. Take your leave, lad." The three grand warriors nodded at him. Darren cupped his hands

again before the three grand warriors before walking away.

The issues regarding the breakthrough to the Wonder Realm had been sorted temporarily. Darren

seemed both relaxed and delighted as he had not only enhanced his strength, but he now had nothing

to worry about.

At the same time, however, he still recalled how he had been forced to escape like a dog. Elsa must

have been worried about him since she had not heard anything about him.

"Now, I can return without hiding myself like a worm in a sewer. I promise you, the Holy Lord of the

Blade Holy Land, that I'll give you no chance to survive if I see you again. So, you'd better cower in

your nest and avoid running into me if you want to keep your head on your neck for a few more days!"

Darren became enraged when he thought of the humiliating memory. He was determined to get

revenge after he returned to the Lotus Holy Land.

Without further delay, Darren hastened toward the transmission array. At his speed, it took Darren only

two hours to reach the array. He then stepped into the transmission array and headed for his

destination, the Lotus Holy Land.

A shadow flashed in the array, and Darren was immediately transferred to the middle of an ancient city

—the Lotus City.

Shock and astonishment reflected on Darren's face when he saw the city. It was so different from the

one he had left, and this upset him to a great degree.

Not a soul was seen on the streets of this huge city, and buildings around him had collapsed.

Darren leaped into the air to get an overall view of the city. To his surprise, the whole city was a mess

like the street where he had stood a few moments ago. It seemed as though a gang of robbers had

ravaged and ruined every part of the city.

The Lotus Holy Land owned Lotus City. Since Lotus City had been destroyed, the same might have

happened to the Lotus Holy Land as well.

"This doesn't feel right," said Darren with a frown. He could not afford to waste another minute here.

And so, he headed in the direction of the numerous mountains at lightning speed.

A gush of wind filled Darren's ears as he flew at a fast speed. He continually looked down to check

along the way. He found deep pits of different sizes scattered everywhere on the ground below. Darren

was certain that the Lotus Holy Land must have witnessed a terrible fight.

Finally, Darren saw the Lotus Holy Land palace and landed on its grand hall.

The brilliant grand hall was gone. All Darren saw was a dilapidated building with tiles and stones debris

scattered everywhere. Watching the ruins of the formerly magnificent palace, Darren could not help but

feel sad in his heart.

"What the hell happened?" murmured Darren. A feeling of wrath surged in him. Such a change was so

unexpected that he had no idea who would have done this to the Lotus Holy Land.

The Lotus Holy Land had many capable warriors. If anyone intended to attack the Lotus Holy Land, he

would definitely be stopped by the capable warriors. Then, how could this have happened? The Lotus

Holy Land had been destroyed to such an extent that it appeared as though no one had fought to

protect it!

The air stirred as Darren leaped from one place to another.

Darren conducted a frantic search as he was eager to find somebody who could explain all of this to

him.

A long time passed before he finally spotted an elder with grey hair sitting on the ruins of a building.

The old man was motionless, like a statue. He appeared to be gazing at something in the far distance.

Darren descended from the sky and landed directly in front of the old man.

Tears rushed to Darren's eyes as soon as he recognized that the old man was Colin.

But Colin was different from the person with whom Darren was familiar. His eyes lacked luster giving

the appearance that Colin was a puppet without any emotions. His hair was white and a mess, which

made him seem haggard and old. On his rumpled and shabby robes were visible marks of dried blood.

"It's you, sir!" Darren approached Colin hurriedly and clutched his shoulders. With a confused

expression, Darren asked, "What happened, sir? How did the Lotus Holy Land become such a mess?"

Instead of replying to Darren, Colin stared in the distance with hollow eyes. He seemed to have paid no

attention to the young man by his side.

Darren felt so strange that he launched his Spirit Power to explore Colin's inner world. To his

amazement, he found that Colin's Spirit Power was chaotic.

"This appears to be the tricks used by rule cultivators!" uttered Darren through clenched teeth.

In an attempt to subdue the force that had disturbed Colin's mind, Darren tried to initiate his Spirit

Power.

Since Darren knew nothing of orthodox healing skills, he had to use his Spirit Power to drive out the

evil force inside Colin. Four hours passed. Darren felt a sharp pain in his brain as if it were about to

explode. At this critical moment, however, the strange power inside Colin's head had been banished.

Luster returned to Colin's eyes and they responded to Darren. They were full of tears as soon as he

recognized the young man in front of him. Darren could even hear the tears dripping from Colin's face.

"You're...Darren?" asked Colin. His lips trembled like those of a dying man. He stopped to get a closer

look at the man in front of him before continuing, "You're back, Darren! Are you really Darren?"

Colin rose to his feet with excitement. He hadn't moved his gaze from the man in front of him for a

single minute this whole time. Then he just stood and stared at Darren, speechless.

Darren launched his spiritual sense toward Colin as he needed to check his friend's physical state. It

seemed that all of Colin's meridians had broken and his cultivation base had disappeared.

"Tell me, sir, what happened here? Where are the Holy Lord and Elsa?" murmured Darren.

Colin shook his head and turned to look at the dilapidated palace. Then he sighed, "It's all over. We are

doomed!"

Darren's heart missed a beat when he heard Colin.

"Bryan is a real bastard. We never expected that he would have such a terrifying ally supporting him.

What a cunning snake!" There was a trace of fear in Colin's voice.

"Bryan? You meant the Blade Holy Lord? That son of a bitch?" roared Darren. Fury reflected in his

eyes.

Instead of inquiring any further, Darren helped to heal Colin's wounds first. Since he was not in a state

to speak, Darren believed that Colin would tell him everything once he had healed.