Chapter 491: Outside Rising Moon City, Enemies on a Narrow Path

Previously, Eldest Senior Sister Qian Ya’s team had found over a hundred Maze Madmen. They had sent back one batch, but another remained.

However, there was now a problem with the second batch.

Upon returning to the camp, Second Senior Brother and the others immediately found Qian Ya and reported, "Eldest Senior Sister, on our way back, someone incited the Demon Beasts of the Nether Spring Mountain Range, creating a small beast tide. While we were fending them off, we were ambushed with arrows from the shadows."

Hearing this, the young Sixth Junior Sister also spoke resentfully...

"We managed to catch a few of the assailants, but they all committed suicide by poison."

"Now, we have no living witnesses."

At that, the young Sixth Junior Sister’s eyes widened as she suddenly remembered something. "Wait, we do have one person left! The man who killed that first Maze Madman. He must know who the secret enemy is."

"Let’s go interrogate him right now."

"As long as he confesses, the mastermind will be exposed. Once we’re back in Rising Moon City, we can report this to the Biyue Hall of the Green Bone Palace, and the mastermind will automatically be demoted."

Hearing this, Second Senior Brother immediately asked where this witness was, insisting they had to go and interrogate him thoroughly.

But of course, Qian Ya and Master Tian rejected the idea.

The so-called witness they were referring to was, after all, Lu Chao.

Qian Ya immediately explained the situation with Lu Chao, clarifying that he had already been proven innocent. Third Junior Sister Lu He added resentfully, "Even though that Lu Chao is really annoying, he definitely wasn’t sent by an enemy sect."

The matter was closed!

And just as they had agreed, Qian Ya and the others kept the matter of Lu Chao helping her restore her Heavenly Destiny Bone a secret from everyone else.

No one was certain whether there were other traitors within the Qianjian Sect.

Everyone calmed down and went to rest.

「The next morning...」

In his room, Lu Chao slowly opened his eyes. He murmured to himself, ’The Creation Realm is certainly not so simple to achieve. Still, reaching it within half a month shouldn’t be a problem.’

After a full night of cultivation, Lu Chao was still at the apex of the Peak Realm, just one step away from breaking through to the Creation Realm.

With that, Lu Chao retracted his True Qi and walked out of the room.

Someone was already waiting for him outside: Lu He, of course. With a completely indifferent expression, she led Lu Chao to Qian Ya’s room to begin the second day of his healing treatment.

They had agreed yesterday that Lu Chao would use the powers of Fire Roaring and Water Chant to repair Qian Ya’s Heavenly Destiny Bone once each day.

This healing session, like the last, took a full hour...

And as Lu Chao walked out of Qian Ya’s room, Second Senior Brother and Sixth Junior Sister happened to be walking toward him. They froze on the spot.

Second Senior Brother glared at Lu Chao. "You... what were you doing in our Eldest Senior Sister’s room?"

His expression was one of extreme vigilance.

Lu Chao just shrugged. "Came to chat with your Eldest Senior Sister. Farewell."

He had already done enough yesterday to make Qian Ya and the others change their attitude. That was sufficient.

Lu Chao couldn’t be bothered to explain further. He didn’t need every single person in the Qianjian Sect to like him.

With that, Lu Chao brushed past Second Senior Brother.

Second Senior Brother slowly turned, glaring daggers at Lu Chao’s back. "Kid, you stop right there."

Lu Chao didn’t break his stride, continuing to walk away with his back to Second Senior Brother, showing no intention of stopping.

This instantly sent Second Senior Brother into a towering rage.

But Qian Ya’s voice came from the room. "Second Junior Brother, I told you last night. This Young Master Lu is a guest of our Qianjian Sect. You must not treat him discourteously."

At the sound of her voice, Second Senior Brother could only grit his teeth and slowly turn back around...

He led the young Sixth Junior Sister into Qian Ya’s room, and they both emerged just a moment later.

They then announced that everyone from the Qianjian Sect would be returning to Rising Moon City.

And just like that, the Qianjian Sect concluded their excursion to the Nether Spring Mountain Range and departed from their camp.

During the return journey, Second Senior Brother and the others discovered something that baffled them: every single morning, Lu Chao would go to see their Eldest Senior Sister, and the two would remain secluded together for a full hour.

This deeply concerned Second Senior Brother, but his Eldest Senior Sister had given a strict, unchallengeable order: no one was to make things difficult for Lu Chao.

「A few days later, they were approaching Rising Moon City...」

Traveling with the Qianjian Sect’s party, Lu Chao stared at the world beyond the Azure Flame Domain. His gaze locked onto Rising Moon City ahead; the cities of the Biyue Continent were completely different from those in the Azure Flame Domain.

His first impression was its sheer size.

It was far larger than even the Great Wu Imperial City. At the same time, Rising Moon City exuded an intense Martial Dao aura.

It felt as if powerful Martial Artists were lurking in every corner...

’Is this... an Array?’

As they passed a manor, Lu Chao detected the aura of an Array emanating from within and around it. He had encountered very few Arrays in the Azure Flame Domain; the only things he’d seen that could truly be called such were the ones in the Azure Flame Sect’s Forbidden Land and the Nether Spring Illusion Array.

Just as Lu Chao was marveling to himself, a disdainful voice sounded from nearby...

"Such a country bumpkin..."

Lu Chao looked toward the voice and saw Third Junior Sister Lu He approaching on her Demon Horse.

She addressed Lu Chao again...

"We’re about to enter Rising Moon City, but the second stage of the promotion tournament—the competition involving the Maze Madmen—will take place outside the city walls. All the Sects will be gathering there soon."

"People from Biyue Hall will also be there, acting as the tournament’s Judges. Our Eldest Senior Sister said you’re not to speak out of turn."

Lu Chao tilted his head.

He guessed Qian Ya hadn’t given that order. Rather, Lu He was afraid that he, being from some backwater place, would cause a scene and embarrass them.

He didn’t call her out on it, just nodding slightly and asking, "And what is this Biyue Hall?"

Lu He shot Lu Chao a nasty glare, then puffed out her chest. "And why should I tell you?"

Lu Chao just smiled and didn’t press the matter.

Instead, he went back to admiring the scenery outside Rising Moon City, which, of course, earned him another round of unhappy muttering from Lu He.

He could guess it was something along the lines of, ’Who does this nobody think he is, acting so high and mighty?’

Suddenly... THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP!

The sound of galloping hooves rapidly approached from behind.

Waves of a thunderous True Qi aura washed over them, causing everyone from the Qianjian Sect to halt and turn around.

Lu He spoke from beside Lu Chao. "It’s the Shengting Sect..."

As she spoke, she glanced at another group behind them. "The Three Moon Thunderbolt Sect is with them, too. Such faithful lapdogs."

As for Lu He’s comment...

Lu Chao didn’t pay it much mind, as he had no idea who the Shengting Sect or the Thunderbolt Sect were. But suddenly, his gaze froze and a tremor ran through him. ’The Violent Bone... it’s getting closer.’

A sudden throb in his chest made him quickly scan the Shengting Sect’s ranks. Sure enough, he saw... three familiar faces.

It was them: Chi Xingxun, Lu Dingtian, and Chi Yuan.

A cold glint flashed in his eyes. After observing them for a moment, Lu Chao slowly retracted his gaze. ’The three of them are obviously not insane,’ he thought. ’It seems the Master of Blood and Bone threw them out before they could fall into that river of corpses and bones.’

’Lu Dingtian,’ Lu Chao thought as his fists clenched. ’You’ve come at the perfect time.’