Chapter 40

The Millennium Duke, with his head in a mess, suddenly lashed out. They pounced towards Yin Xuege at such a speed that the several Marquises of the Yin clan and Yin Xuege himself could not even see their movements. Even the Marquis of the Yin clan who had forcibly elevated his strength to the Duke level could only barely make out two faint human figures.

Only the Blood Spirit Sword let out a sharp cry, as if it were a living creature, bringing a three-meter-long trail of dripping blood light, rapidly circling around Yin Xuege. The sharp blood light formed a blinding light pillar around Yin Xuege. When the two Millennium Dukes' sharp fingers touched the blood-colored light pillar, two sharp screams were heard, and their fingers were severed at the base, with drops of dark red blood continuously spraying out.

"Despicable little bastard, we will tear you to pieces!" After suddenly suffering a great blow and hearing the sharp screams of their comrades, the two Millennium Dukes simultaneously let out fierce, sharp howls.

But just as their howls began, the ground around them suddenly shook violently. A powerful, suffocating, and sinister pressure fell from the sky, and a giant blood claw several meters wide descended from the air. The barrier set up by the three Millennium Dukes shattered like paper.

This blood-colored giant claw whistled as it fell from the sky, tearing through the outer barrier and pressing down on the two Millennium Dukes. It was as if a giant had slapped a fragile worm; the two powerful Millennium Dukes, after taking a breath, were instantly left gasping for air, their bones shattered, and they lay motionless on the ground.

A low sound of hooves came from the distance, and a gray-black mist suddenly rose on the surrounding plains. The neighing of warhorses could be heard, but mixed with the neighing were strange screams and cries, as if countless wronged souls were wailing.

The dull sound of hooves grew closer, and from the density of the hoofbeats, at least several hundred knights were rapidly approaching.

A strong wind blew from the west, and vague figures appeared in the mist. To their shock, at least three hundred headless knights clad in black armor were charging towards them, their steeds either skeletal horses with no flesh or zombie horses with glowing eyes and exhaling bone-chilling cold air.

The heads of these headless knights had been cut off at the shoulders. They either held their heads in their left hands, hung them on their belts, or tied them to their steeds' reins, which swayed in the wind. They exuded bone-chilling cold, and their auras were so powerful that they were not inferior to any Marquis of the Yin clan.

Three hundred headless knights with strength comparable to Marquises!

Yin Xuege released the Millennium Duke whose essence blood he had drained completely, leaving him on the verge of death. He tightly gripped the Blood Spirit Sword, and a piercing blood flame erupted from his life-bound bat wings. The large bat wings flapped lightly, and his eyes glowed with blood light, staring intently at these uninvited undead creatures!

Headless knights, these beings were also notorious in the Western world, having played leading roles in countless brutal massacres before the Lawless Era. In the Lawless Era, having lost their existence, they could only rely on powerful blood demon aristocratic families, serving as their allies and enforcers.

But to mobilize three hundred Marquis-level headless knights at once was a grand gesture! The power behind these headless knights was certainly no weaker than the Yin clan.

As the dull hoofbeats approached, these headless knights suddenly split into two groups, racing past Yin Xuege and his companions from both sides. Then, from the mist, the sound of wheels could be heard, and dark red rose petals began to float in the gray-black mist.

Yin Xuege's wrist moved, and the Blood Spirit Sword silently swept out, slicing all the rose petals that approached him into pieces.

Then he saw the light in the mist. Sixteen snow-white horses with red eyes floated three inches above the ground, racing silently, pulling a magnificent four-wheeled carriage. The driver, wielding a long whip to drive the horses, was two elderly men dressed in bright red court robes, their gray-white hair styled into intricate curls.

These two ancient-looking elders exuded auras even more powerful than the three Millennium Dukes. Their eyes glowed with blood light, and their black-red lips revealed sharp fangs. Their withered black hands had sharp claws. They were two astonishingly powerful blood demon dukes, and they were certainly at the level of Millennium Dukes.

Behind the carriage, over a hundred large bats flew silently. When the carriage stopped less than ten meters from Yin Xuege, these bats fell to the ground, releasing dense blood mist, transforming into handsome men and beautiful women, who stood respectfully on both sides of the carriage.

With a loud 'thud,' the carriage door was kicked open, and a crimson carpet silently 'flowed' out of the carriage. This material-unknown carpet, glowing with a faint blood light, moved like a living thing, extending straight towards Yin Xuege and stopping precisely at his feet.

"Yin Xuege, little one, I told you, we would meet again!" With a shrill laugh, an old acquaintance of Yin Xuege—Farnborough, who had been tortured to near death in the Blood Prison of the Great Berlin City—slowly walked out of the carriage.

Yin Xuege immediately recognized Farnborough, for he had absorbed twenty drops of Farnborough's essence blood and had firmly remembered the old man's aura. If he had to recognize him by appearance, it would be very difficult!

The first time he met Farnborough, he was an old, weak man, nearly dead from torture, barely clinging to life. Unable to escape the Blood Prison on his own, Farnborough had to seek help from Yin Xuege, paying the price of twenty drops of his life essence blood, which allowed Yin Xuege to save him from the blood rain.

But the Farnborough who appeared before Yin Xuege today looked no more than forty years old. His youthful appearance made him look like a touring emperor. Although he exuded no aura, the noble and dignified presence was palpable, and anyone could sense his extraordinary nature.

"Farnborough, old Duke, you!" Yin Xuege stared dumbfounded at the rejuvenated Farnborough, unable to speak for a moment.

With a head of black hair braided into a complex braid, dressed in a court robe predominantly in gold and red, wearing blood-colored tight breeches, and dark gold high boots, Farnborough's attire was extremely flamboyant, like a dashing emperor from a Western fairy tale.

With a strange smile, Farnborough leisurely walked up to Yin Xuege, then extended his finger and gently tapped Yin Xuege's shoulder. "Do you remember what I asked you? I said I would come back for you, little one, who doesn't even know the most ancient and traditional secret codes!"

Yin Xuege helplessly glanced at the eight Yin clan Marquises behind him and was startled to find that they were staring at Farnborough's face as if they had seen a ghost, their expressions frozen.

Yin Xuege was stunned, then he carefully examined Farnborough's youthful face, noticing something amiss!

On Farnborough's forehead, a thumb-sized blood-colored demon rune occasionally flashed. This rune was extremely complex, and at first glance, it resembled a crown. Just by looking at this rune, which seemed to have grown from Farnborough's flesh, Yin Xuege felt his blood boil, as if it wanted to escape his body and merge with the rune.

"Damn it, Farnborough, you said you were just a regular Duke?" Yin Xuege suddenly felt his teeth itch.

"I never said I was a regular Duke! Perhaps I did? You must have misunderstood!" Farnborough smiled brightly, revealing a row of gleaming white teeth that shimmered in the sunlight. He proudly reached out, patted Yin Xuege's cheek, and laughed even louder.

"Look, what's happening here? Three Millennium Dukes from Brien? Oh, they're old acquaintances! This guy, cut into pieces, is Dekum Vanck Brien. I even attended his grandfather's coming-of-age ceremony!"

Yin Xuege's mind was filled with thunderous noise. He looked at the smiling Farnborough, not knowing what to say.

This Dekum was a Millennium Duke who existed before the Lawless Era! According to the rule that the more powerful a blood demon, the harder it is for them to reproduce, Dekum's grandfather must have been at least six or seven hundred years older than him! And Farnborough attended Dekum's grandfather's coming-of-age ceremony? That means Farnborough was much older than Dekum's grandfather?

Could such an old man be just a Duke? No wonder when Yin Xuege absorbed Farnborough's essence blood, he experienced such bizarre illusions! No wonder just twenty drops of essence blood made Yin Xuege's life essence so thick and powerful.

His mind was a bit chaotic, but Yin Xuege quickly calmed down and briefly recounted what had happened.

Farnborough's eyes suddenly turned a piercing dark golden red. He slowly turned and looked at Sander and Fenice, who were unconscious a hundred meters away, then burst into laughter. The sharp laughter caused the grass within several thousand meters to snap at the roots and be torn into countless pieces by the laughter.

A strong wind blew, and the shattered grass leaves whistled into the sky, forming a twisted green tornado.

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