Chapter 473: Darkness Descends Suddenly

Just as expected...

Accompanied by a series of bestial roars, the Little Sword-Winged Ice Wolf appeared, followed by a dozen or so more Yan Soul Guards.

In the blink of an eye, Lu Chao’s enemies had not only increased by more than a dozen, but he now also faced an additional Little Sword-Winged Ice Wolf. These newly arrived Yan Soul Guards should have been the ones hunting Chi Xingxun and Lu Dingtian.

Just like that, all the Yan Soul Guards and the Little Sword-Winged Ice Wolf had fully converged.

One of the new Yan Soul Guards immediately asked, "You... you still haven’t taken down Lu Chao?"

In response, the Creation Realm Yan Soul Guard ground his teeth and said, "He has already reached the Peak Ninth Layer. We can’t beat him."

As he spoke, the Creation Realm Yan Soul Guard pointed toward Lu Chao in the distance.

All the new arrivals’ eyes widened, their pupils constricting as they exclaimed, "How is that possible? How did he reach the Peak Ninth Layer? How could he have improved so rapidly in less than a month?"

The corners of the Creation Realm Yan Soul Guard’s mouth twitched. His heart, along with the others’, was bleeding again. They were the ones who had helped Lu Chao break through.

Their Blue Dew Fruits...

But the Creation Realm Yan Soul Guard didn’t want to talk about that for now. He quickly asked, "What happened to you all? Weren’t there twenty of you hunting Chi Xingxun and Lu Dingtian? How are you the only ones left? Where is Chi Xingxun?"

The newcomer’s mouth twitched as he said viciously, "Chi Xingxun... he’s reached the Creation Realm."

As his voice fell, the ones who had been hunting Lu Chao trembled violently, their eyes wide with disbelief.

At the same time, Lu Chao, who was some distance away, also heard this. His gaze sharpened slightly.

The new Yan Soul Guard continued...

"Chi Xingxun and Lu Dingtian used their forces against us, luring us into the Nether Spring Mountain Range. Then, Chi Xingxun broke through while entangled in battle with us. We were directly suppressed by his Destiny Bone, and several of us died."

"If it weren’t for the Little Sword-Winged Ice Wolf, I’m afraid we all would have died at Chi Xingxun’s hands."

"Now he’s turned the tables and is hunting us. We heard a commotion over here and rushed over."

The new Yan Soul Guard’s words sent a chill through the Creation Realm guard and his ten companions. They looked at Lu Chao, then in the direction from which Chi Xingxun might be coming, completely at a loss for a moment.

If Lu Chao and Chi Xingxun were to join forces, they wouldn’t stand a chance of survival.

"There’s no way Lu Chao and Chi Xingxun will team up. If those two meet, it’ll be an all-out war."

"We should leave this place immediately. We’ll just consider this mission a failure and go complete Lord Mo Jing’s other tasks."

At this moment, another Yan Soul Guard spoke in a low voice...

They were well aware of the deep-seated hatred between Lu Chao and Chi Xingxun. After all, Commander Ke had died at Lu Chao’s hands.

Therefore, if they left now, it would lead to a major battle between Lu Chao and Chi Xingxun.

Following this person’s words, the Creation Realm Yan Soul Guard looked at Lu Chao and said coldly, "Lu Chao, you whelp, you probably don’t want to fight a desperate battle against all of us plus the Little Sword-Winged Ice Wolf, do you? You wouldn’t want to let Chi Xingxun get off easy, would you?"

Facing twenty-some Yan Soul Guards plus a Creation Realm Little Sword-Winged Ice Wolf, Lu Chao was actually confident he could handle them.

But he had no confidence he could kill them all without getting injured. And with Chi Xingxun and Lu Dingtian still out there, there was indeed no need for a life-or-death struggle.

Thinking this, Lu Chao made a "go ahead" gesture.

He wore a faint smile, and the crowd of Yan Soul Guards let out a collective sigh of relief before flashing away.

Watching them disappear...

Lu Chao took a shallow breath and thought to himself, ’These Yan Soul Guards have left on the surface, but they’re definitely lurking nearby, waiting for an opportunity. They’ll surely lead Chi Xingxun to me. They want to be the fisherman who profits from the fight.’

’In that case, I’ll play along for now. It won’t be too late to deal with them after I’ve taken care of Chi Xingxun...’

’And now, I’ve already reached the Peak Ninth Layer.’

’I can finally choose the Star Moon Level Bone I want. My Life-taking Star-devouring Bone can finally advance to the Moon Level.’

Reaching the Peak Ninth Layer...

...meant he could now see the Star Moon Level Bones within his Bone Inner World. He would be able to devour another Moon-level Bone. Last time, with the Moon Profound Breaking Soldier Bone, he couldn’t see clearly and had to rely on luck. Now, he could freely choose the one most suitable for his current situation.

’I’ll face Chi Xingxun after all my preparations are complete.’

Lu Chao thought to himself, collecting the Thunder Leopard’s corpse before flashing away.

He needed to find a relatively safe place for his Cultivation. As for the Thunder Leopard’s corpse... being a Creation Realm Demon Beast, its entire body was naturally a treasure trove, and he might be able to devour its Heavenly Destiny Bone later.

And so, Lu Chao quickly found a stone cave, entered, and sat down cross-legged to begin his Cultivation.

However, he didn’t immediately enter his Bone Inner World. First, he needed to properly sort out the medicinal power of the Blue Dew Fruit within his body and adjust his True Qi to its optimal state. It wouldn’t be too late to devour the Star Moon Level Bone after that.

...

Meanwhile, the Yan Soul Guards had indeed not gone far.

One of them said sinisterly, "Lure Chi Xingxun over here, and then secretly point him to Lu Chao’s location."

...

「At the same time...」

About an hour’s travel from Lu Chao’s position, Chi Xingxun was with Lu Dingtian and his men. Lu Dingtian still had several hundred of his most loyal Direct Lineage followers with him, advancing alongside Chi Xingxun.

Among them, of course, was his son, Lu Hanyang.

During the earlier pursuit by the Yan Soul Guards, Lu Hanyang had been carried by others.

Later, after acquiring the Nether Spring Soldiers and Horses, although they still struggled, Lu Hanyang’s life was at least saved.

Just as Chi Xingxun had planned, they used their forces to maneuver against the Yan Soul Guards all the way to the Nether Spring Mountain Range. Finally, they took their main experts into the mountains, where Chi Xingxun broke through to the Creation Realm and launched a counterattack.

This eventually turned into the current situation: a pursuit.

As they walked, Chi Xingxun suddenly spoke...

"Lu Dingtian, your performance has been acceptable. Your presence can also draw out Lu Chao and infuriate Mo Jing."

"Next, after I’ve killed those damn Yan Soul Guards, we will head west from the Nether Spring Mountain Range, enter Cyan Sword Mountain, and return to the Cyan Sword Great Empire. I will not treat you unfairly."

Listening to Chi Xingxun, Lu Dingtian naturally bowed and scraped, thanking him profusely.

Of course, he knew perfectly well that Chi Xingxun was willing to bring them along because they still had value. Besides having several hundred Direct Lineage experts, Lu Dingtian himself could be used to slap Mo Jing and even the entire Yan Soul City in the face.

Along the way, Lu Dingtian had already learned about Chi Xingxun and Red Sword City’s situation.

’There is no longer a place for me in the Azure Flame Domain, but as long as I can get to the Cyan Sword Great Empire, with my strategy and methods, I can definitely carve out a world for myself. I will be back.’

Lu Dingtian secretly hardened his resolve.

Just like that, Chi Xingxun followed the direction the Yan Soul Guards had fled, continuing his pursuit.

However, half an hour later...

The situation changed abruptly. The sky suddenly turned dark—an incredibly strange and complete blackness.

"Huh? Why did the sky suddenly go dark?"

One of Lu Dingtian’s subordinates muttered, looking around...

"It’s not time for the sun to set yet. Is it going to rain? But this is a little too dark, isn’t it?"

Almost the instant he finished speaking, his surroundings became so dark he couldn’t see his hand in front of his face.

The surrounding wind also grew cold, and a numbing sensation crept over everyone. Even Chi Xingxun found it incredibly bizarre. He suddenly said, "Nether Spring Mountain Range... I feel like I’ve heard that name somewhere before."