After receiving the emperor's scripture, the Blood River King finally bowed, his earlier defiance gone.
"Hahaha!"
"With the Blood River King at my side, I am a tiger with wings!"
The Flameflow Imperial Heir laughed heartily, his spirits soaring.
In that instant, much of the tension left him. He broke free of the despair of being driven to the brink of death by the Azure Sky Imperial Son, like a drowning man pulling himself from the water onto shore and feeling the vitality of life again.
Around him, the Sinking Mountain King, Mo Shan, the Rock Demon Clan chief, and the other guards were no longer suppressed. Their bodies began to recover.
The flesh of the Sinking Mountain King's nearly severed body healed rapidly. Mo Shan's head rose into the air and drew the shattered pieces of his black stone body toward it like a magnet, swiftly reforming into a stone giant.
The two stood behind the Flameflow Imperial Heir.
Even as worries crowded their minds, joy rose within them too.
They would not die. They would not have to follow the Imperial Heir to the grave.
"Blood River King..."
The Flameflow Imperial Heir studied the blood-robed Daoist as though admiring a precious treasure, his gaze greedy and eager.
The blood-robed Daoist stood quietly.
He did not kneel three times and kowtow nine times. He did not weep with gratitude or perform any of the rites slave-race kings commonly performed before their lord.
The Flameflow Imperial Heir's expression did not change. He remained all smiles, but a thought arose in his mind.
A dog that has tasted blood goes wild in the end.
It cannot compare to one raised at home all its life.
The Flameflow Imperial Heir was displeased.
Instinctively, he considered training the man again. Raising a dog