Damned Healer-Chapter 623: Precarious Position

The group shot through the city skies. Flying was forbidden, but Sylvanos seemed completely unconcerned about it. While still in the air, the leader of that race explained:

"The city may look like a calm river, with only small conflicts between clans on the surface, but there are dark undercurrents at play. The four clans have coveted the position of City Lord for a long time. To make things worse, the City Lord, Alaric Celsiel, has no heirs. Rumor has it that an incident happened during his attempt to break through to the second level of the Emperor Saint, leading to the ruin of his bloodline."

Everyone heard that and swallowed hard. The Emperor Saint Realm was the realm above the Heaven Saint Realm, and there should currently be no more than three living people at that level in the entire universe. Almost everyone stalled at the ninth level of Heaven Saint and never managed to advance further in their lives; the clan masters included.

Sylvanos continued: "As a result, the four clans can no longer sit idly by. Jason, leader of the Violet Sky Clan, and Caofeng, leader of the Scarlet Cloud Clan, were the first to stir things up. However, the Moon River Clan and the Morning Star Clan are also unwilling to fall behind. They’ve been repeatedly testing Lord Alaric’s position. The fight for his seat could explode at any moment. In a field of dry straw, a single spark is enough to ignite chaos. Therefore, we must be cautious."

Hearing this, Darian smiled faintly. The race leader was trying to help him, feeling that he was too young and therefore judging him inexperienced, and believing that Darian was the legitimate heir of that destroyed race. He didn’t want Darian to become a pawn in this struggle, especially a sacrificial pawn, lost in the conflict among these five great factions of the city.

"Sir Darian... you don’t have to do this... I don’t want you to be used by others. I...," Saelil suddenly spoke, biting her lip.

Maeyu only looked at her, not understanding the meaning of those words. Still, she felt a vague sense of unease.

Darian noticed Saelil’s embarrassed expression and interrupted her with a smile. "Thank you for your concern. But please, don’t continue."

Saelil couldn’t hold it in anymore. "The truth is—"

Niara placed a hand on her shoulder. Saelil startled and turned, meeting a gaze full of reassurance.

Darian spoke calmly: "We know, and I appreciate your concern. However, I care little about other people’s schemes. To live with dignity in this lawless world, I will carve my own path; whoever dares cross my trail will be crushed. That is my creed. Therefore, whether the plans are open or hidden, none of it will shake me."

Feeling the warmth of Niara’s hand and the weight of Darian’s conviction, Saelil nodded, her voice trembling: "I apologize..."

Reflecting on the past, she recalled his confrontation at the city entrance, in which she had been instructed to intervene. After that, she was tasked with inviting Darian’s group. Following that action, she received no further instructions, which now seemed strange to her.

Now, with Sylvanos’s revelations to Darian, she realized that she, too, had been manipulated by the clan as part of a larger plan. If she had caused Darian’s death, she would never have found peace.

Niara and Darian sensed this in her; Saelil was, in fact, a good girl.

At that moment, they landed. They were now once again in front of the arena.

However, this time, several people blocked their path.

A powerful voice echoed out:

"Race Leader Sylvanos, I heard you’ve been in seclusion for over three hundred years. I didn’t expect you to come out now. Still, you haven’t reached the ninth level?"

Darian looked around and saw hundreds of figures wearing clothes bearing the symbol of the Scarlet Cloud Clan. The person at the front was a square-faced man with sharp brows and a short beard, looking like an imposing lion. A faint scarlet aura surrounded his body, and he gave off a strong stench of blood.

That stench and aura were not the illusion of a technique. They were the result of refining the blood of many victims; some were enemy Nether Beasts, others were ordinary people. Darian’s curse activated automatically, allowing him to see extremely dense black karma surrounding him.

"This person is the master of the Scarlet Cloud Clan, Caofeng. He’s known for being cruel and fierce, and the person you’ll fight is his descendant," Sylvanos explained, ignoring the question.

Moreover, he neither whispered nor spoke mentally; his words were said aloud for everyone to hear. This left Saelil and Maeyu shocked, as he clearly did not fear the master of a powerful clan.

"Cruel and fierce? I like that description, hahaha!" Caofeng didn’t seem offended by the assessment. On the contrary, he appeared amused.

Besides Caofeng, there were several other ancestral figures behind him. Behind those elders were hundreds of youths, and Darian’s senses told him that all of them were superior to Saelil.

Sylvanos didn’t even bother to look at him and continued to ignore him. His race had no relationship with the four clans; they were neither friends nor enemies. If not for Darian, his race wouldn’t even have come here.

After being ignored, Caofeng turned to Darian. "Little boy, you’re Darian, the one who challenged my grandson Caoming?"

Darian replied with obvious boredom: "Challenged? Don’t use such noble words. I was just warming up; I killed a fly and then decided to crush a slightly bigger one. So you’re their ’master’? Now everything makes sense... if the owner is this mediocre, it’s only natural that the rest of the clan is pathetic."

Saelil jumped in shock at such audacity. Niara, on the other hand, was already clutching her stomach, laughing nonstop.

"You...!" Caofeng nearly exploded with rage. After all, he was a clan master of illustrious status, and not even his enemies dared to speak to him with such arrogance. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

"You’re courting death!"

The disciples of the Cla Scarlet Cloud immediately drew their weapons. The moment Caofeng gave the order, they would attack without hesitation.

Using all his restraint, Caofeng suppressed his anger and waved his hand, stopping his men. Staring at Darian with a sinister look, he demanded, "Brat, where did you really come from? Who sent you to this city?!"

Darian snorted. When he had shown the emblem and said those things before, they were in a secluded area outside the arena, and no one could hear or sense the fluctuations. It was obvious that the Cla Violet Sky wouldn’t reveal that to their enemies. So that old man was still trying to confirm whether Darian was from the Empire.

"You keep asking stupid questions. I’m in this city on my own, and I don’t need help dealing with insects this small. Besides, I don’t like wasting time. If you want to kill me and I want to kill you, there’s no need for excuses. You could attack right now, and there wouldn’t be any problem."

All the clans had their eyes on Darian, wanting either to recruit him or kill him, even though only the Cla Violet Sky ’knew his origin’. That was because he possessed terrifying power and didn’t have Void cultivation; therefore, he held a powerful legacy that everyone coveted.

Seeing Darian’s absolute ’arrogance’ and complete lack of respect, Caofeng smiled sinisterly. "If that’s what you want, don’t even think about leaving the City of the Heaven Seal alive!"

"Give it up, you can’t use these childish tricks on me. You’re just stalling to try to pressure me mentally. Looks like your head is so big it’s only good for stuffing more nonsense into it," Darian mocked.

The people behind the old man roared, "You’re courting death!"

"This again? Don’t you have something more refined and interesting to say?" Darian shot back coldly.

Caofeng finally lost control, and his scarlet aura exploded. In the next instant, blood-colored flames shot toward Darian.

*BOOM!*

Sylvanos calmly raised his hand, as he had already expected that attack. With a muffled sound, a wave of power tore through the void, blocking the strike and forcing Caofeng to step back in shock.

Suddenly, four bows were drawn, making space itself tremble.

The city was plunged into shadows, wrapped in a palpable murderous aura.

The two Protector Elders, together with Herta and Hart, silently aimed their arrows at Caofeng, freezing him in place. His expression changed completely as he realized he was totally immobilized.

If he made any move, four arrows would be fired at him simultaneously. Herta and Hart alone weren’t that powerful, but they could combine their strength with the Elders in a joint attack, using the race’s Bloodline.

Caofeng narrowed his eyes. Even with all his arrogance, facing a simultaneous attack like that gave him less than a fifty percent chance of survival.

The cruelty of the Wood Spirit Race caught Caofeng off guard. They truly wanted to take his life, and his moment of carelessness had put him at a severe disadvantage. Now, he was in an extremely precarious position.

The people of the Cla Scarlet Cloud gripped their weapons tightly. If the Wood Spirits dared to attack, a war would break out.

"I don’t believe you’d dare attack," Caofeng retorted coldly.

Sylvanos replied indifferently, "As long as Darian gives the word, you’ll meet a miserable end today. If you doubt me, you can try the power of our soul-devouring arrows."

Caofeng’s expression changed when Sylvanos mentioned the soul-devouring arrows — those were infamous killing weapons, known for burning their victims’ souls.

They were made with blood collected from the great battlefield. Even long after the deaths of certain figures, the blood still retained that macabre effect. Their fearsome reputation inspired dread even in someone like Caofeng.

If it were just one arrow, he wouldn’t be afraid. But... he saw and felt that all four archers possessed them, which terrified him. Even those two young ones had them. What was going on?

If all four hit him at once... now he was starting to regret coming here. Maybe if he had kept his distance, he wouldn’t be in this precarious situation. However, his pride prevented him from retreating now, despite the cold sweat running down his forehead.

Caofeng forced a scornful smile. "If I die, your race will come with me. If you have the guts, try to defeat me."

*BANG!*

Someone actually attacked. With a deafening sound, a punch slammed into Caofeng’s face, leaving countless people staring in shock.