Chapter 858: Settling the Debt

A flood of soul shadows lunged at the Radium Sea Lion, but it seemed to be unbothered.

However, the Dragon Horned Blowfish let out a wail of pain, and its golden horn became 10% shorter.

Even without Liu Jie's continued orders, the battle proceeded.

More Blade Worms underwent the same changes as they clashed against the Radium Sea Lion.

The Shield Ladybugs that were killed after they had surrounded the Radium Sea Lion had been infected by the hypha and rose to their feet once again.

The continuous self-explosions gave Du Shuo zero time to react.

By the time Du Shuo realized what was happening, the Dragon Horned Blowfish's horn was only 10% of its original length, and it looked as though it would be completely gone after one more attack.

Du Shuo hurriedly shouted, "I admit defeat!"

When the last word left Du Shuo's lips, the Blade Worms stopped short right in front of the Radium Sea Lion, and the insect colony stopped fighting.

The insect colony's chaos and sacrifice had secured another victory for Liu Jie.

Du Shuo had been thinking about becoming Iron Prison's disciple, but now that he had experienced Liu Jie's power first-hand, he gave up on that pipe dream.

He called back the Dragon Horned Blowfish and Radium Sea Lion, grinned at Liu Jie, gave a thumbs-up, and said, "Young Liege, your strength is astounding."

Liu Jie did not reply. Instead. he looked down at his chest.

After Du Shuo stepped down from the Martial Stage, the remaining nine participants of the Martial Stage looked relieved.

The remaining nine people realized how weak they were when they witnessed the battle between Du Shuo and Liu Jie.

Hence, they immediately gave up after stepping onto the Martial Stage.

After the last person admitted defeat, Zuo Ming looked at Liu Jie with pride.

Zuo Ming did not immediately announce Liu Jie as the winner of the Martial Stage, but everyone knew that the proud young man standing in the middle of an army of insects was the winner.

All the disciples who were present either came from veteran factions or top factions. They were also the favorite disciples of their elders and usually saw themselves as above others.

They were regarded with respect wherever they went and were accustomed to being waited on hand and foot.

At that moment, the image of that invincible young man standing on the Martial Stage was burned into the hearts of all the other disciples and taught them the true meaning of what it took to be the disciple of a member of royalty.

A blinding smile was under Night Leaning Moon's black veil. This beam seemed out of place on her emotionless features, but it perfectly represented her current feelings.

Although she already knew how powerful Liu Jie was, she was still happy that her disciple had emerged victorious on the Martial Stage.

She was even happier than when she had achieved all that glory in her youth.

Her smile slowly faded as she turned to say to Iron Prison, "Iron Prison, I will visit you after the end of the Guard Ye Banquet to collect the Disaster Insect Nest's body."

Iron Prison's face looked as grumpy as ever, but his heart was aching.

He had not managed to obtain a disciple.

Moreover, as much as it made his head ache to give the Disaster Insect Nest's body to Night Leaning Moon, it was not much use to him anyway.

It was likely that Night Leaning Moon would give the Disaster Insect Nest's body to her disciple because it would greatly benefit her disciple's insect-species carcinoma feys.

It would allow the insect-species carcinoma feys to temporarily increase their power.

However, losing the bet with the Moon Empress that involved the sacred source lifeform felt like a stab to Iron Prison's heart.

Iron Prison usually resided in the imperial court and led the royal guards.

Although he possessed overwhelming power, the royal guards belonged to the imperial court.

Despite being a member of royalty, Iron Prison did not manage his own private faction and lacked the resources that the Moon Empress, Bamboo Monarch, Chef Supreme, Chief Guard Ye, and that old man from Ostrich Logistics had.

He had not even acquainted himself with the sacred source lifeform, yet it had now become the Moon Empress's property.

Iron Prison turned to look at the Moon Empress suspiciously.

He wondered if the Moon Empress had been gunning for his sacred source lifeform all along.

If so, the Moon Empress would have used another method to take the sacred source lifeform from him even if they had not made a bet.

"Thank you, Iron Prison. Please personally deliver the sacred source lifeform that I won to me at the Radiant Moon Palace after the Guard Ye Banquet."

Iron Prison furrowed his brow.

It's bad enough that I lost the sacred source lifeform! How dare the Moon Empress ask me to deliver it to the Radiant Moon Palace personally? She has crossed a line!

Just as he was about to object, the Moon Empress looked at him with a complex gaze.

"When you deliver the sacred source lifeform to the Radiant Moon Palace, I'll take a look at your stuck feys. However, you'll have to supply your own creation crystals."

The Moon Empress turned her head away from Iron Prison.

Her words made Iron Prison relax his brow as a look of disbelief came over his face.

His expression of surprised delight made his grumpy face soften significantly.

As the leader of the royal guards, Iron Prison had accumulated a lot of experiences.

However, at that moment, he felt like an oblivious child and wondered if he was dreaming.

Since when did the Moon Empress start to give him gifts of her own accord? Could she be acting?

He had sought her out eight years ago with creation crystals in hand and asked her to help his feys break through.

But as he had been climbing the steps to the Radiant Moon Palace, brimming with sincerity, he was met with four moonbeam chains that chased him down Leaning Moon Mountain without even giving him the chance to reveal his intentions.