After expending a great deal of his vital energy, Zhang Fan managed to shake off the Templar arbiter. He had been traveling by sword for hundreds of kilometers, shielded by his defenses, and had arrived at Elba Island, where he found Ailebella and the others.
"Master!"
"Master!"
Seeing Zhang Fan return unharmed, Ailebella and Lin Haotian were overjoyed. However, they quickly noticed that Zhang Fan's condition was not quite right.
Zhang Fan, who normally appeared full of youthful vitality, was now extremely pale, his face drained of color. He looked like a teenage gamer who had stayed up online for a week straight, appearing utterly exhausted and weak.
"Make arrangements. Ailebella will stay here. The rest of you must return to Huaxia immediately," Zhang Fan instructed as soon as he arrived.
Hearing this, everyone felt uneasy. It was the first time they had ever seen Zhang Fan make such serious and urgent arrangements.
"Master, what exactly happened?" Ailebella and Lin Haotian exchanged a glance. Lin Haotian asked.
"The Templar's strength far exceeds my estimations. There are five Earth Immortals alone, and I can sense that this is not their full power," Zhang Fan said, shaking his head with a grave expression.
Even though he had mentally prepared himself beforehand, the Templar's strength truly surpassed his expectations by a wide margin, to a degree he could not currently resist.
Although he had temporarily suppressed the five Earth Immortals of the Templar using the Mountain River Seal, giving him a chance to escape, this had caused significant damage to the artifact spirit of the Mountain River Seal. After all, he could not yet fully control the Mountain River Seal and could only rely on the artifact spirit's power to wield it.
"Five Earth Immortals?"
Lin Haotian and Ailebella were completely stunned by Zhang Fan's words.
In an era where Divine Realm cultivators were rarely seen and Earth Immortals were mere legends, the Templar still harbored five Earth Immortals. How terrifying was such power?
Although Ailebella was a little princess of the blood race, with noble status and extraordinary standing, her own strength was still relatively weak.
With her peak Saint realm cultivation, coupled with her exceptional talent and noble lineage, she held a position comparable to ordinary Divine Realm cultivators within the blood race.
However, even ordinary Divine Realm cultivators knew very little about beings above them.
At the very least, Ailebella knew nothing about whether the blood race had any princes who surpassed the Divine Realm or any even more powerful beings.
Under Zhang Fan's arrangements, Lin Haotian took Yan Qianghu, Hong Binglan, and the others on a private jet and flew back to Huaxia overnight. Even Zhao Qingqing, who had planned to spend a few days in Europe, was sent back by Zhang Fan.
Having witnessed the Templar's might, Zhang Fan dared not be careless. This was why he had immediately sent Lin Haotian and the others away. After all, with their strength, it would be easy for the Templar to dispatch a single Divine Realm cultivator to crush them.
Only when they returned to Huaxia could Zhang Fan feel somewhat at ease.
In Huaxia, with the Blood Demon Flood Dragon guarding the place and the formations Zhang Fan had set up, it was sufficient to resist ordinary Core Formation realm cultivators. Moreover, the Templar's influence would find it difficult to extend into Huaxia. The deterrence of a great power in the contemporary world would surely make even the Templar wary.
"Master, where do we go next?" Ailebella asked after they had seen them off.
"Let's leave here first and find a secluded place. I intend to go into seclusion to study something," Zhang Fan said.
His presence on Elba Island had already been exposed, so they could not linger there for long. They decided to leave first and then make further plans.
"If Master is looking for a place to go into seclusion, I happen to know of an excellent place to recommend. I believe even those Earth Immortals from the Templar would not dare to disturb us easily," Ailebella said with a sweet smile.
"In that case, let's set off." Without Ailebella needing to say anything, Zhang Fan had an inkling of where Ailebella was referring to as an excellent place.
"It seems Master has already guessed. Since Master doesn't mind, then let's set off."
Above the surging sea, two figures streaked across like meteors, their forms shrinking until they gradually disappeared into the night sky.
...
Deep within a dense, primeval forest, stood a magnificent ancient castle. It occupied a vast area and was perched on the mountainside, making it appear exceptionally striking.
Zhang Fan and Ailebella hovered in the air, gazing at the ancient castle below. A sense of familiarity welled up in Ailebella's heart as she saw it.
After all, she had been born in this very castle.
"This is the foundation of our blood race, the Ancestral Castle. It is rumored to have been built by our ancestor and has a history of several hundred years," Ailebella introduced to Zhang Fan.
"It seems there's a reason why your blood race has been able to oppose the Templar for centuries without being annihilated," Zhang Fan said with a slight smile, nodding.
Within this castle, Zhang Fan could sense at least five cultivators at the Divine Realm, not to mention more than ten Saint realm cultivators.
As for beings above the Divine Realm, such powerful individuals could deliberately conceal their auras. With Zhang Fan's current strength, it was not easy for him to detect them.
Therefore, Zhang Fan was unsure about how many beings in the blood race surpassed the Divine Realm.
However, judging by the Templar's strength, there must be at least one Earth Immortal-level cultivator in the blood race, and likely more than one, otherwise, the blood race would have been destroyed by the Templar long ago.
"Although the Ancestral Castle is very large, only those of princely blood can reside here permanently. Other members of the blood race can only live here if their strength reaches the Saint realm. As a result, the Ancestral Castle appears rather deserted at ordinary times," Ailebella said.
Zhang Fan nodded in understanding. No wonder so many powerful cultivators were gathered within this castle. It also demonstrated that the Ancestral Castle held a truly significant meaning for the blood race.
Ailebella's figure flickered, and she gracefully landed before the castle gate, which was as grand as an ancient city gate.
The castle gate was tightly shut. Ailebella gave it a gentle push, and it moved as if a switch had been flipped. With a mechanical whirring sound, the massive gate slowly swung open.
Upon entering, they were greeted by a corridor nearly a hundred meters long. The lights on either side were dim, and the two felt as if they had stumbled into an ancient ruin.
At the end of the corridor was a magnificent hall. Zhang Fan and Ailebella walked slowly into the hall.
At this moment, quite a few people were gathered in the hall, standing silently and staring at the approaching pair with calm expressions.
"Your Highness."
Ailebella possessed immense popularity among the younger generation of the blood race, not due to her status but because of her talent.
At just over twenty years old, she had already reached the peak Saint realm. With such talent, becoming a Divine Realm cultivator was no difficulty for her.
All the members of the blood race believed that Ailebella was their best hope in a century to contend for the legendary Prince realm.
Consequently, the younger generation of the blood race held a kind of blind adoration for Ailebella.
...