Chapter 1396: Pei Yan, Enraged

Chapter 1396: Chapter 1396: Pei Yan, Enraged

"Xia Yu, Elder Jin, take everyone and leave this space. Leave everything here to me to handle." Pei Yan, with a cigar clamped between his lips, slowly exhaled a thick cloud of smoke before announcing his decision to his companions through his voice amplifier.

Jin He Xuan, Xia Yu, and the others were tangled in a fight with the enemy when they heard these words. They had no choice but to abandon their targets and temporarily withdraw from the battlefield. The Blood Race did not take the opportunity to pursue them, as during the earlier battle, despite the Blood Divine Country reinforcement and weakening of the Investigation Hall members’ powers, the six Grand Dukes had found it difficult to overcome the disparity in strength and numbers. Led by Xia Yu, several members had suppressed them to such an extent that two Blood Race members were already severely injured. With a little more effort, Xia Yu and her team could capture them, yet at this crucial moment, Pei Yan called a halt, providing these men a respite to adjust their injuries.

"Pei Yan, what are you thinking? Why do you want us to retreat!" Jin He Xuan, having withdrawn, complained unhappily to Pei Yan. The Prince-level Blood Race summoned by Delacuri, equivalent to the peak of the Heavenly Dao, since having only recently broken through the Heavenly Dao bounds, wasn’t inherently stronger than Jin He Xuan. But with the help of Delacuri’s secret techniques and the strange methods of the Blood Race, he managed to fight Jin He Xuan to a draw, which naturally irked this reinforcement from the Dragon Realm.

"Pei Yan! With us withdrawn, you will have to face the siege of two Heavenly Dao peaks and other Heavenly Dao members on your own!" Xia Yu said, glancing around the entire battlefield. During the battle, she hadn’t missed the changes on the field, and she also saw the figures of her parents among the people condensed by Delacuri. Knowing Pei Yan’s temperament, she could imagine that beneath Pei Yan’s calm exterior lay a volcano ready to erupt in anger. Therefore, to prevent Pei Yan from acting rashly, she had to speak up once more to remind him, "Don’t let Delacuri’s provocation affect you. We will resolve our opponents swiftly to assist you! Then together, we can take him down! This is our best chance to save Jiumu."

Xia Yu mentioned Ye Jiumu at this time as a subtle reminder to Pei Yan of the importance of this battle. Hearing Xia Yu’s advice, Pei Yan, with a cigar in his mouth, smiled and said in an exceedingly calm tone, "I know! I’m very calm now, and it’s precisely because I’m calm that I’m having you leave. If possible, I’d of course prefer a safer solution, but that’s not feasible now. It’s not arrogance on my part, but I didn’t expect Delacuri to use such a technique, infecting this entire space. To eliminate him, everything here must be destroyed, so I will unleash a massive area attack indiscriminately. Your presence would make me hesitant."

"Couldn’t we destroy these enemies first, then leave? That would ease your burden greatly." An elder investigator in the Investigation Hall interjected to persuade.

At this moment, Jin He Xuan had already calmed down, lowering his gaze to his own source energy gauge and glancing at others. He quickly realized the issue, shaking his head with a sigh, "No! There’s not enough time, is there?"

"Yes!" Pei Yan nodded, saying little in acceptance.

Though Xia Yu seemed to understand somewhat of the situation, she remained concerned and said, "Can you really handle it? You know all space passages leading outside are sealed. Though we have previously embedded Dao markers within us for emergency retreat, they only allow a one-time outward transmission. Once we leave this space, we can’t return, and you’ll be on your own. If you can’t combat and opt to retreat, it means this mission is a failure."

"Since when have any of my actions disappointed you? Once you retreat, remember to remove all traces of source energy contamination on yourselves immediately. Destroy every seed of the original blood disaster carried within thoroughly, without letting it spread. Also, fortify the space’s defenses to the maximum, consistently reinforcing it thereafter. Then have the Elder brought in from the Daoist Plane ready for the soul interrogation ritual. After the battle ends, I will retrieve Delacuri’s soul directly." Pei Yan spoke, exhaling another layer of smoke from the corner of his mouth in a reminder.

Seeing Pei Yan’s firm stance, the others did not attempt further persuasion, except Hu Jiu stepped forward and said, "Brother! Let me stay! If you cast the Thunder Observation Eight Techniques, later you might need to merge with me."

Upon hearing this, Pei Yan hesitated briefly but ended up refusing, saying, "You should leave! The Ancestral God’s life force within you is too potent. In this environment, it serves as the best nourishment for the Blood Race’s techniques. Merging with you here makes it harder for me to resist the erosion of the original blood disaster. Unless absolutely necessary, I don’t wish to make such a choice. Don’t worry! Delacuri won’t withstand the full set of Thunder Observation Eight Techniques from me. To be safe, maintain synchronized perception externally. We’ve signed a symbiosis contract which allows ignoring space restrictions when wanting to merge. There’s no need to stay here and risk."

"Alright!" Hu Jiu nodded reluctantly after gazing at the distant Blood Race, subsequently following the others out of the independent space.

"A wise choice indeed. Realizing that if those people stay longer, they’d also become conduits for my transferring harm. So you pre-emptively had them retreat? Seems like you haven’t completely succumbed to rage yet. But now that you’re alone, I’m curious how you’ll handle our upcoming siege?" Delacuri didn’t obstruct the Investigation Hall team’s departure, which was part of his plan anyway. With the current setup, boosted by his Blood Divine Country enhancements, even if the two Heavenly Dao peaks sieging Pei Yan fail to kill him, his own safety wouldn’t be at risk. Once time is ripe and Bloodsan completes what needs to be done, he can join the incoming reinforcements to put Pei Yan to death, thereby eliminating a major threat to his family.

Pei Yan could obviously detect the derision in the opponent’s words. He didn’t immediately retort, instead kept his cigar in his mouth, puffing clouds while flipping open the Divine Artifact Revolver’s cylinder. Casually loading in bullets condensed from his body, he murmured, seemingly to himself, "These divine artifacts were custom-made by the Daoist Plane for me. When Mo Sect Elder Feng Tianhe and Engineer Li presented them to me, they said they hadn’t named these artifacts yet. They hoped I could name them so they have a chance to gain fame in future battles, demonstrating the power of the artifact refining techniques from the Three Great Planes to the world."

While speaking, Pei Yan had loaded the revolver with bullets. With a flick of his wrist, the cylinder returned to position. He looked at Delacuri and smiled, "Speaking of which, you should be considered the first real opponent since I got this divine artifact."