Chapter 449: Setting Off Again, Back to Great Wu

Lu Chao no longer paid any mind to Zheng Zhuhe. He looked at everyone present and thanked them profusely.

If not for everyone’s desperate struggle and cooperation, they would have been in grave danger this time.

Lu Chao, Cheng Yunsu, Cheng Chuming—all of them had nearly died here.

He then gathered all his core personnel. His voice was heavy as he said, "We may have won, but the power of the Cyan Sword Great Empire is undeniable and unavoidable. Everyone must be mentally prepared."

At Lu Chao’s words, everyone’s hearts sank.

’That’s right. It was just one Vice Commander Liu, and he left us in such a sorry state.’

’The Azure Flame Domain as a whole is too weak.’

Looking at the crowd again, Lu Chao took a deep breath and continued, "From now on, everyone must begin frantically cultivating the Azure Flame Sect’s Martial Dao and Soldier Dao—that is, the contents of the *Azure Flame Treasure Manual*. Time is short. We must achieve a comprehensive breakthrough."

Next, Lu Chao told Sun Shijin and the others about the plan he had discussed with Fan Changcun.

The plan was that once the Azure Flame Domain was fully consolidated, he, Cang Changcun, and the other core figures of the domain would have to go completely into hiding so Mo Jing couldn’t find them.

This would make Mo Jing hesitant to let Yan Mu easily lead troops into the Azure Flame Domain.

Then, geniuses of the Azure Flame Domain like Luo Wendeng would follow Fan Changcun into the Azure Flame Forbidden Land to frantically cultivate the Azure Flame Martial Dao.

At the same time, Lu Chao would have Marquis Longyin take a message to the Dragon Flame King, telling him to quickly select geniuses to be trained by Fan Changcun.

"Even if I fail, more and more people, more and more disciples of the Azure Flame Sect, will rise up."

"One day, we will be able to drive the Cyan Sword Great Empire out."

Lu Chao’s voice was heavy. He had no confidence in facing the Cyan Sword Great Empire either.

"No matter what, we absolutely cannot let the Cyan Sword Great Empire push us around as they please," Lu Chao added gravely.

Everyone clenched their teeth, silently vowing in their hearts that they must grow stronger.

After a moment, Zheng Zhuhe walked over. His voice was hoarse as he said, "General Lu Chao, Wu Yiyi is still breathing."

Lu Chao looked at him, then shook his head lightly. "Finish her for me. I can’t be bothered to dirty my own hands."

He thought about it and decided he was too lazy to kill Wu Yiyi himself. And so, after a silent nod, Zheng Zhuhe went back.

After Zheng Zhuhe cut down Wu Yiyi, he was completely reborn.

The Azure Flame Domain had gained another useful Star Saint Bone genius.

「The next few days...」

Lu Chao stayed in Saint Su City to recuperate and went into seclusion to comprehend the *Azure Flame Treasure Manual*. He needed to immediately leave behind cultivation materials for everyone, which meant he had to comprehend and organize the Cultivation Techniques, Martial Techniques, and Soldier Dao within it.

Meanwhile, Cheng Yunsu was accompanying her father, Cheng Chuming, who had been too grievously injured.

To Cheng Yunsu’s pleasant surprise, however, Cheng Chuming was actually able to cultivate the first Chapter of the *Fire Phoenix Technique*. During his cultivation, his Star Saint Bone, Sword Burning, also advanced to become a Star Divine Bone.

When Cheng Chuming reached the Star Divine Bone level, he completely won over the entire Saint Bone Su Family, becoming their true and worthy Patriarch.

「A few days later...」

Lu Chao left behind the insights he had gleaned from the *Azure Flame Treasure Manual* over the past few days for Sun Shijin and Marquis Longyin. Then, he took Cheng Yunsu and set off toward the Great Wu Empire.

The night before they left, Sun Shijin had secretly sought out Lu Chao. "The aura of your Life-taking Bone seems to be leaking again. You were using Fire Roaring and Water Chant to suppress it before, but I’m afraid they won’t be able to hold it back much longer."

As someone who also possessed a Life-taking Bone, Sun Shijin could faintly sense the aura of Lu Chao’s Life-taking Star-devouring Bone.

"Your Life-taking Bone has now reached the Star Divine Bone level. Even if we turned the entire Azure Flame Domain upside down, we wouldn’t be able to find a usable Bone of Myriad Stars. This is a huge problem, and you must be careful."

To suppress the Life-taking Bone’s aura and continue masquerading it as a Bone of Myriad Stars, he had to find one at the Star Divine Bone level.

’But where could he possibly find one?’

There were none in the Azure Flame Domain, which was why Sun Shijin was so worried.

Lu Chao had sensed this as well.

But he replied softly, "In the current Azure Flame Domain, even if I reveal my Life-taking Bone, no one can do anything to me... But in the future, I will definitely come into contact with the Cyan Sword Great Empire, and perhaps even the Green Bone Palace."

"It is indeed a problem..."

"In the future, my only hope is to find a stronger Bone of Myriad Stars in the Cyan Sword Great Empire. For now, however, there is another way to solve this."

"I still have a third Star Saint Bone that I haven’t dug out of Lu Dingtian’s body."

"I will set out for the Great Wu Empire tomorrow. I’m going to settle things with Lu Dingtian once and for all."

This was the conversation between Sun Shijin and Lu Chao on the night before their departure.

Now, in the early morning, Lu Chao and Cheng Yunsu left Saint Su City on the back of a Flying Feather Black Eagle, flying swiftly toward the Hundred Countries.

Just then, Cheng Yunsu suddenly asked, "Lu Chao, what are you thinking about?"

She asked this because she saw her husband standing there motionless after they left Saint Su City.

With a faint smile, Lu Chao replied softly, "I was thinking about my conversation with Elder Sun last night. And about Marquis Yin Ye—how his campaign in the Great Wu Empire is going, and whether he has taken down Lu Dingtian yet."

’The issues with the Nanye Dynasty are mostly resolved.’

’But Lu Dingtian’s forces are vast. I wonder if Marquis Yin Ye and the Great Wu Empire can handle him.’

Lu Chao was heading to the Great Wu Empire not only to dig out his own Violent Star Saint Bone, but also to completely resolve the chaotic situation there and unite the entire Azure Flame Domain.

In response, Cheng Yunsu smiled and said, "The Dragon Flame Kingdom has already received news that Marquis Yin Ye and Lu Dingtian are locked in a struggle. As long as we get there, it shouldn’t be too big of a problem, right?"

Taking a shallow breath, Lu Chao replied, "There’s also Mo Jing. I don’t know how his fight with Chi Xingxun is going. I’m just worried that after he deals with Chi Xingxun, he’ll turn right around and go to the Great Wu Empire to support Lu Dingtian."

As he spoke, Lu Chao shook his head again. ’Thinking about it anymore is useless. We’ll know what’s what when the time comes.’

With that, Lu Chao once again took out the Biyin Bone Flute and began to play.

After playing for a while, the couple began cultivating directly on the Flying Feather Black Eagle’s back. Cheng Yunsu had already started cultivating the second Chapter of the *Fire Phoenix Technique*, while Lu Chao’s consciousness entered his Bone Inner World.

In the lower regions of his Bone Inner World, there were now two foreign Heavenly Destiny Bones.

One was the Moon Profound Red Blood Fierce Wolf Bone, formed from the fusion of ten bones. The other was the Moon Mortal Bone he had swallowed from Vice Commander Liu a few days ago.

’A Moon Mortal Red Sword Bone.’

’This Vice Commander Liu was a vice commander of the Red Sword Guard, so he had a Red Sword Bone.’

Lu Chao observed the Red Sword Bone and thought to himself, ’As expected, it can’t be fused into the Red Blood Fierce Wolf Bone. I’ll probably need to gather another ten bones to fuse them. But for now, if I cultivate its Meridian Map, I should be able to reach the Peak Fifth Layer.’

At this thought, Lu Chao began to cultivate the Meridian Map of the Red Sword Bone...

Time passed. Because the Flying Feather Black Eagle was fast enough, a journey that would have taken a normal Flying Bird Demon Beast six or seven days to reach the Azure Flame Sect now only took three and a half.

That’s right, after three and a half days, Lu Chao and Cheng Yunsu arrived at the Azure Flame Sect. Their purpose was to see how the battle between Yan Mu and the Red Sword Guard was progressing.