Chapter 377: King's Return

"Master, can... can you forgive me?"

Black Rose's body rapidly decayed. As all the demonic energy within her dissipated, every rebellious thought once driven by desire quickly vanished.

At this moment, Black Rose seemed to return to her original self. The Empress also recalled her first encounter with this sweet little girl deep in the secluded forest, and how she took the unfortunate child as her apprentice.

In a way, Black Rose was more like the Empress's own child. Even witnessing Black Rose's actions now, the Empress had never considered killing her.

Yet, before the Empress's eyes, Black Rose was impaled through the heart by the figure in the black cloak. A powerful beast essence was rapidly corrupting Black Rose's life source.

The Empress's eyes quickly turned crimson, and her entire being radiated an overwhelming killing intent.

"Child, hold on. I won't let anything happen to you."

The Empress held Black Rose tightly, hoping to save her with her own power, but the situation seemed worse than she had imagined.

"Ah Yang, where are you? Black Rose is dying! Please save her, my apprentice, my child!"

Upon receiving the Empress's soul transmission, Xu Yang immediately activated his Heaven's Eye. Above the main hall of the Flame Kingdom's palace, a colossal, shimmering, multicolored face — Xu Yang's own outline — materialized.

"My heavens, is that a god? Do gods truly exist in this world? This aura... it's so sacred and profound!"

The moment they saw the Heaven's Eye totem, all the courtiers throughout the Flame Kingdom knelt and began to pray.

However, Xu Yang's attention was solely on the Empress. Upon seeing Black Rose's injuries, he frowned slightly and sighed.

"I'm not sure I can save her, but there is one method we can try. Leave this girl's revenge to yourself; hand her over to me."

With the mighty Xu Yang as her backing, the Empress's grief subsided, instantly transforming into boundless hatred. Her crimson gaze fixed on the black cloaked figure in the void.

"You can die now!"

*Whoosh!*

The Empress unleashed her full power. Undoubtedly, she was now one of the strongest beings in this fantasy world. The black cloak's beast essence domain was instantly crushed by the Empress.

"What?! You... you can crush my domain so easily? How is that possible!"

The Empress sneered, "If you want to be my opponent, go call your father. You? You're not worthy!"

*Bang!* With a kick, she sent the black cloak flying from the sky to the palace floor. The Empress swooped down from above, stomping heavily on his chest, utterly shattering his physical body.

Even so, the black cloaked expert, shattered into countless fragments, managed to powerfully regenerate in an extremely short time. All the pieces of his body containing his primordial aura immediately began to self-reassemble at the center.

"Oh? So you're truly an unkillable cockroach. That wasn't enough to instantly kill you?"

"Hahaha! You are indeed very strong. You must be at the limit of demonic energy my father spoke of. It's difficult for any power under the laws to conquer you. But unfortunately, killing me won't be easy either, because... my beast essence talent is Parasitism!"

"Beast essence talent, Parasitism?"

At his words, not only the Empress but also all the courtiers in the hall looked shocked, completely unsure of what the fellow meant.

"What you don't know is that the evolution of the Beast Essence lineage generally occurs in three stages. After the first major transformation, one can assume human form. After the second major transformation, a unique bloodline talent awakens—a unique and powerful ability specific to the Beast Essence lineage's evolution!

"The life essence talent I've awakened allows me to transmit cells containing my beast essence energy, through parasitic means, to other living beings I've been in contact with for a certain period.

"By my reckoning, I've been in the Flame Kingdom for several months now. During this time, whenever I had the chance, I would roam around the royal capital, simultaneously implanting my cells into other life forms I encountered.

"As long as I wish, leveraging the proliferation effect of these parasitized cells, I can resurrect myself through any parasitized life form. As long as my soul remains intact and the parasitized individual hasn't completely vanished, I am immortal!"

It must be said that such a talent, across the entire Endless Sea, would likely only be awakened by a hegemonic, supreme bloodline like that of the Black Flood Dragon King.

"So, your hegemonic father and your brother hidden in the Divine Kingdom also possess this talent?"

Xu Yang couldn't help but separate a wisp of his soul to ask.

"Naturally. And their beast essence talents are even more overbearing than my Parasitism! Unfortunately, you won't get to witness them, hahaha! Now, let me give you a demonstration, shall I?"

The moment his soul-voice dissipated, the shattered body rapidly reassembling on the ground abruptly stopped. In the next instant, the courtier to the Empress's left let out a mournful wail, followed by fresh crimson blood beginning to seep from his pupils—a clear sign of his soul's demise.

Within moments, the courtier's soul completely shattered, and his body was seized by the Black Flood Dragon King's son through his Parasitism talent.

"What a terrifying talent! So, more than half of everyone living in the Flame Kingdom's capital has already been infected by his cells? Oh heavens... does that mean we're all at his mercy?"

"Hmph, do you really think that once you've completed cell parasitism, you can do whatever you please?"

Just as everyone felt helpless, and Xu Yang was completely focused on using his Heaven's Eye power to condense the Three Yuan Reversion Array, unable to divert his attention to the battle, the outline of Zhan Yuwang, the true master of this palace, reappeared!

"That's... Your Majesty!"

Immediately, the courtiers were moved to tears, overcome with excitement. This was their true ruler, the most outstanding king in the history of the Flame Kingdom—he had finally returned!

However, everyone noticed that the King's previously imposing demeanor had vanished, replaced by an indescribable, profound aura of simplicity and returning to basics that enveloped him.

Although he emitted no aura whatsoever, each step the old man took sent an incredibly powerful shockwave through the souls of everyone around him!

"Zhan Yuwang! You old geezer are still alive!"

The old man, devoid of joy or sorrow, continued to advance without ever stopping.

"No one can destroy the Flame Kingdom!"