95: What right do you have to be my knife?

Rahula’s pupils constricted: “You... you want to defect to His Majesty the Blood Emperor?! Do you think His Majesty will believe you?! You’ve killed so many of my subordinates, you’ve tarnished the prestige of the blood emperor token...”

“So I need a letter of submission.” Lin Fan interrupted him, his eyes cold.

Rahula’s heart sank sharply.

He understood Lin Fan’s meaning.

“No... you can’t...” He tried to struggle hoarsely, but severely wounded and dying, he couldn’t even move a finger.

Lin Fan slowly stood up and patted the dust off his hands.

“I’ll borrow your head.”

As his voice fell.

The halberd light flashed.

Rahula’s head, filled with terror and despair, flew into the sky!

Mid Martial King, Blood Blade Rahula, fallen!

“Ding! Killed Rahula, prestige value +3000!”

“Current prestige value: 135570 points!”

Lin Fan reached out and caught the head, wrapped it casually in a piece of tattered cloth, and held it in his hand.

He turned and looked at Red Diamond and the others who had walked out of the tavern.

“Clean up the mess, treat the wounded.”

“Before I return, the tavern will be closed to guests, and no one is allowed to go out.”

Red Diamond looked at the bloody head in Lin Fan’s hand, her throat bobbing, and said with difficulty: “Young Master Lin... are you really going to see the Blood Emperor? That... that’s a Martial Emperor...”

“What about a Martial Emperor?” Lin Fan interrupted her, a hint of arrogance flashing in his eyes, “He needs me as a blade, and I need to leverage his influence.”

“It’s just mutual benefit.”

He paused, then looked at Red Diamond:

“If I don’t return in three days...”

“Take Su Muyu and Qin Yue, leave the Blood Prison Battlefield, and run as far as you can.”

Lin Fan was gambling.

Gambling that the other party was smart, but not too smart!

He didn’t have a hundred percent certainty.

Nor did he need a hundred percent certainty.

After all, he wasn’t a Senior Brother who was 98% or 99% sure every day.

Red Diamond trembled all over and nodded heavily: “Yes!”

Lin Fan said no more, carrying Rahula’s head, he turned and walked towards the depths of the street... towards the tallest, most magnificent palace, entirely built of blood-colored crystals, in the direction of the Blood Emperor Palace.

Qiongqi let out a low growl, shrinking its size and transforming into a black shadow, silently merging into Lin Fan’s shadow.

Under the blood-colored moonlight.

One man, one halberd, one head.

Stepping over ruins and blood, heading towards the Blood Emperor Palace—the Blood Sovereign who ruled one-third of the Eastern District’s territory.

Located at the core of East Seventh Street District, covering an area of a thousand acres, the palace was magnificent and heavily guarded.

At this moment, in the innermost Blood Emperor Hall.

A middle-aged man in a dark gold imperial robe, wearing a blood-colored jade crown, with a handsome but somewhat effeminate and sinister face, was leaning against an imperial throne carved from a single piece of “Blood Marrow Jade”.

He gently tapped the armrest with his finger, and in his blood-red pupils, a water mirror floated in mid-air.

The water mirror clearly showed every detail of the battle outside the Blood Thorn Tavern—from Lin Fan summoning the asura armor, to Qiongqi devouring the Blood Fiend Immortal Slaying Formation, and then to the Heaven-Opening halberd strike that killed Rahula.

“Interesting...”

The Blood Emperor’s lips curled into a playful arc.

“A Heaven Rank battle armor, the ancient Vicious Beast Qiongqi, and that set of... halberd techniques containing the Heaven-Opening Concept.”

“This little guy named Lin Fan has more secrets than this Emperor imagined.”

Beside him, an old man completely shrouded in a black robe, whose aura was like a deep abyss, bowed and said:

“Your Majesty, this child is unruly and extremely murderous; he might be an untamable wolf.”

“Untamable?” The Blood Emperor chuckled, “This Emperor doesn’t need his loyalty, only that he... is sharp enough.”

He looked at the black-clad youth in the water mirror, who was carrying Rahula’s head and walking towards the Blood Emperor Palace.

“Rahula, this dog, has been raised for so many years; it’s time for a change.”

“Since a sharper blade has delivered itself to my doorstep...”

A cold golden light flashed in the Blood Emperor’s eyes:

“This Emperor will naturally make good use of it.”

Just then.

A guard’s announcement came from outside the hall:

“Report!!!”

“Your Majesty! Outside the palace, a Human Race youth claiming to be Lin Fan requests an audience! He... he is carrying the head of Guild Master Rahula!”

The Blood Emperor and the black-robed elder exchanged glances.

“Let him in.”

“This Emperor wants to see...”

The Blood Emperor sat up straight, his imperial robe fluttering without wind, and a terrifying imperial might, vast as the sea and majestic as a mountain, slowly permeated the air.

“Just how sharp this new blade is.”

...Outside the Blood Emperor Palace.

Lin Fan threw Rahula’s head to the guards at the gate, and under countless gazes of fear, curiosity, or boiling killing intent, he calmly stepped into this palace that symbolized the supreme power of the Eastern District.

Passing through long blood-colored corridors and layers of guards.

Finally, he arrived before the majestic Blood Emperor Hall.

The hall doors opened with a roar.

Lin Fan looked up.

At the end of the grand hall, on the Blood Marrow Jade imperial throne, that figure in a dark gold imperial robe and blood jade crown was quietly watching him with a gaze that seemed to penetrate the Soul.

The Martial Emperor’s pressure, like an invisible mountain, slowly pressed down.

Lin Fan took a deep breath.

The golden Qi and blood of his Heaven Opening Sacred Elephant Body slightly boiled, and the phantom image of the asura armor flashed under his skin, forcibly resisting this imperial might.

Then, he took a step forward.

Stepping into the hall.

He stopped ten zhang from the imperial throne.

He looked up and met the gaze of the Blood Sovereign.

“Human Race, Lin Fan.”

He spoke slowly, his voice calm, yet clearly echoing through the grand hall:

“Today, I killed Rahula and present his head.”

“I have come...”

Lin Fan paused, his gaze fixed on the Blood Emperor’s blood-red pupils, enunciating each word:

“To pledge allegiance to Your Majesty, and to be Your Majesty’s...”

“Sharpest blade!”

“Ding! Faced a Martial Emperor, actively pledged allegiance, prestige value +5000!”

“Current prestige value: 140570 points!”

...Inside the Blood Emperor Hall, a deathly silence reigned.

Only the echo of Lin Fan’s words, “to be Your Majesty’s sharpest blade,” still slowly drifted between the massive hall pillars.

On the imperial throne, the Blood Emperor’s blood-red pupils narrowed slightly, as if examining a novel and dangerous weapon.

He did not respond immediately, merely tapping the Blood Marrow Jade armrest with his fingertip, producing a crisp, rhythmic “tap, tap” sound.

The invisible Martial Emperor’s pressure did not dissipate; instead, it surged like a tide, strong and weak, washing over Lin Fan’s will and body, testing his limits.

Lin Fan stood below the throne, his back ramrod straight.

The golden Qi and blood of the Heaven Opening Sacred Elephant Body surged within him, and the phantom image of the asura armor flickered beneath his skin, forcibly enduring the imperial might that could make even a Martial King tremble in spirit.

His face was a few shades paler than before, fine cold sweat beaded on his forehead, but his eyes remained calm, even carrying a hint of arrogance that was deliberately restrained yet still discernible.

He knew that the Blood Emperor was testing him and exerting pressure.

Pledge allegiance? The other party might not fully believe it.

But Rahula’s head and the battle just now were enough to prove his “value” and “sharpness.”

What he needed now was an opportunity to demonstrate his value, gain trust, and at the same time... buy time and resources.

“The sharpest blade?”

After a long silence, the Blood Emperor finally spoke, his voice calm, betraying no emotion.

“Under this Emperor’s command, there are twenty-seven Martial Kings, over a thousand Martial Ancestors, and countless talented individuals. You are not the first to dare call yourself the sharpest.”

He leaned forward slightly, the dark gold patterns on his imperial robe flowing with blood-colored light.

“Tell this Emperor, what makes you qualified?”