Divine Emperor of Heavenly Destiny

When they stepped onto the battlefield of the Three-Institute Tournament, it wasn’t just Lu Chao; Yin Ye and the others had also anticipated this exact situation.

Lu Chao was going to reveal his identity, so of course, he had to be prepared.

Everyone from Dragon Flame Academy, plus all the people from the various small kingdoms and their institutes—these were the preparations made by Lu Chao and Yin Ye.

Once gathered, they formed an army of several thousand under Lu Chao’s command.

Meanwhile, Zheng Liling was already a stray dog with few men to command. Nan Zhuiming had traveled from afar, and even with his students, he only had a few hundred people. And although Lu Dingtian had made his own arrangements, he didn’t have nearly as many men as Lu Chao.

The main reason was Lu Dingtian’s overconfidence; after all, he had reached the Peak Realm Eighth Layer.

He never imagined at the start that a single ”Violent Saint Bone Response” from Lu Chao could throw his True Qi into disarray.

At this moment, Lu Dingtian was staring daggers at Lu Chao. He slowly shifted his gaze back to Lu Mei and spoke flatly, ”Lu Mei, go and save Dingkong and Hanyan. If either one of them dies, you will answer to me with your head.”

As soon as he said this, everyone was stunned. ’Isn’t Lu Hanyan already dead?’

Lu Mei froze on the spot. Then, he solemnly cupped his fist. ”Yes!”

He turned and strode toward the arena, his retreating figure a picture of desolation. ’He knows,’ Lu Mei thought. ’Lu Dingtian suspects I intentionally went easy on Lu Chao, so this order is just... a way to get rid of me.’

’Lu Hanyan is dead. It’s impossible for me to save her. This is a death sentence from Lu Dingtian.’

As Lu Mei departed...

Lu Dingtian’s cold gaze swept over his direct subordinates. He spoke again, his voice just as frigid, ”Lu Chao is a traitorous general of the Great Wu Empire. It doesn’t matter if he’s with the Dragon Flame Kingdom or the Azure Flame Sect now; he is an enemy of our Great Wu Empire.”

”Anyone who dares to help him, anyone who dares to show him mercy, will die.”

His voice thundered across the entire area, the killing intent in his tone as terrifying as a raging torrent.

Ever since the start of the Three-Institute Tournament, from the moment Lu Chao declared he would excavate Lu Hanyang’s Heavenly Destiny Saint Bone, Lu Dingtian had felt constant resistance. Every single one of his orders was met with obstruction, and not just from the Second Prince, Wu Zhiqiu...

The lingering emotions everyone held for Lu Chao—be it fear or admiration—all became obstacles in his path.

Now, even his most trusted subordinate, Lu Mei, was suspected of intentionally showing mercy to Lu Chao. This was something Lu Dingtian could not tolerate.

He had to make an example of someone!

If it weren’t for all this resistance, given how things started, no one could have stopped him from storming the arena. Then, two Saint Bones wouldn’t have been excavated by Lu Chao, and his daughter, Lu Hanyan, wouldn’t have been killed.

Before the great battle, he had to ensure his men were completely loyal, with no divided allegiances.

At this moment, the men from the Great Wu Empire trembled, including the experts and Death Warriors who had previously blocked Wu Zhiqiu.

A few of them murmured quietly, ”I’m afraid there’s no way out for us either.”

’Lu Chao showed us mercy, too,’ they thought. ’He only sent us flying with his fists before; he didn’t kill us.’

They would likely be executed by Lu Dingtian for this very reason, but they still didn’t dare to resist.

After dealing with his own internal problems, Lu Dingtian turned his gaze back to Lu Chao. ”Traitorous son, tell me, how did you come back from the dead? How did you become a Fierce Ghost? And how did you turn His Highness, the Second Prince Wu Zhiqiu, into a Fierce Ghost as well?”

He was intensely curious as to how Lu Chao had returned from the dead. Lord Black Shadow of the Cyan Sword Great Empire had clearly said... it was impossible.

But Lu Chao was alive... And even as Lu Dingtian asked out of curiosity, he still made sure to pin the crime of being possessed by a Fierce Ghost on Wu Zhiqiu. ’You, Lu Chao, call me a rebel,’ he thought. ’Of course I have to refute that accusation, at least for appearance’s sake.’

At this time, everyone, including Nan Zhuiming, was staring intently at Lu Chao.

They were all intensely curious as to how Lu Chao had survived. Even Yin Ye and the others were filled with curiosity.

But of course, Lu Chao couldn’t tell the truth, or Xiao Su’er would become a public target. He just replied slowly, his voice laced with mystique, ”Perhaps the injustice I suffered was so great that some divine being decided to resurrect me.”

Of course, no one would believe such a ridiculous story...

”Or, you could just assume I was saved by a secret in the Azure Flame Sect’s Forbidden Land. After all, you made up that story so convincingly before.”

Lu Chao couldn’t resist adding this last part, causing everyone to exchange bewildered glances.

’Damn it, that might actually be possible.’ Nan Zhuiming, in particular, was once again reminded of the masked figure at the Peak of the Peak Realm.

Following Lu Chao’s words, a grim silence fell over the area below the arena once more. The atmosphere of the standoff grew increasingly icy. At this moment, Li Wumian suddenly spoke up. ”Marshal Lu, his Bone of Myriad Stars is extremely strange.”

As soon as he said this, a tremor went through everyone present.

Regardless of whether they knew Lu Chao possessed a Life-taking Bone or not, a sharp glint flashed in everyone’s eyes.

”That’s right... where did the real Lu Chao get a Bone of Myriad Stars?”

Zeng Quan murmured under his breath. He then recalled that Lu Chao’s Bone of Myriad Stars, though clearly not a Saint Bone, allowed him to cultivate a variety of Martial Techniques to a masterful degree. His True Qi was also absurdly powerful, enabling him to fight opponents of a higher realm.

It was, indeed, very strange.

Lu Dingtian was also stunned. He stared intently at Lu Chao and began, ”You...”

”When you were crushing every bone in my body, did you happen to miss something?” Lu Chao interrupted casually.

At that moment, Lu Dingtian’s brow furrowed deeply, but he couldn’t think of what it could be.

He had no idea what they might have missed. Although they had shattered all of Lu Chao’s bones, they hadn’t ground every single piece to dust.

”Actually, I have four Heavenly Destiny Bones. One of them was just too small, and you overlooked it.”

Lu Chao continued with a smile, ”Even I didn’t know about it before. It’s a shame you were all having too much fun to notice.”

As his voice fell, Lu Dingtian and the others clenched their fists, not doubting his words.

’If we hadn’t missed this Heavenly Destiny Myriad Stars Bone,’ they thought, ’then even if Lu Chao was resurrected, he never could have reached his current level of power.’

Regret flooded Lu Dingtian’s heart!

But he immediately let out a low laugh. ”Patriarch Nan, Patriarch Zheng, I will hold back Dongfang Ren... I’m leaving Lu Chao to you. Ignore everyone else. Just focus all your efforts on killing Lu Chao.”

At this moment, Lu Dingtian didn’t want to drag things out any longer, nor could he be bothered with curiosity anymore. Killing Lu Chao was all that mattered.

Nan Zhuiming and Zheng Liling nodded grimly, their eyes locked on Lu Chao. They were to ignore everyone else... which meant that no matter the cost, Lu Chao had to die here.

THUD, THUD, THUD...

Nan Zhuiming and the other powerful experts began to step forward.

His voice was chilling. ”Lu Chao, it doesn’t matter how many arrows you have. I only need to kill you.”

Zheng Liling added, ”Lu Chao, as long as you die, my Saint Bone Zheng Family can rise again. We cannot let you live.”

At the same time, everyone behind Lu Chao drew their bows and nocked their arrows. Their palms were sweating profusely, each one of them wondering if their arrows could repel Nan Zhuiming and his experts before they reached Lu Chao.

In the next instant, Lu Dingtian suddenly gave the order: ”Everyone, charge forward and block the arrows! All experts, follow close behind!”