Divine Emperor of Heavenly Destiny

As Lu Chao fought for his life... AAAH!

A scream of agony ripped from the throat of a Yan Soul Guard. Lu Chao had finally killed one of them.

But Lu Chao didn’t stop. He continued his slaughter, charging and fighting with wild abandon, heedless of his own injuries.

Looking up at the sky above the North City Gate, one would see a Flying Feather Black Eagle moving at terrifying speed, repeatedly charging a dozen or so Flying Wolves and weaving between them without pause.

This tactic, however, left both the Flying Feather Black Eagle and Lu Chao vulnerable. One wrong move, and they could both be killed.

But Lu Chao couldn’t afford to worry about that. His only thought was to kill, trading injury for his enemies’ lives.

In the blink of an eye... AAAAAGH!

Several more Yan Soul Guards fell. A sudden terror gripped the survivors; Lu Chao’s ferocity had broken their nerve.

One of the Yan Soul Guards tried to fall back, hoping to use ranged attacks, but their leader bellowed, ”We can’t retreat! Our Flying Wolves are slower than his Flying Feather Black Eagle! If we run, we die!”

A second guard yelled, ”Quick! People in the city, send ten more to reinforce us!”

The words had barely left his mouth when—AWOOOO!

Ten more Yan Soul Guards on Flying Wolves charged out of the Great Wu Imperial City.

Just like that, Lu Chao’s plan to lure them out had succeeded. The pressure on everyone inside the Great Wu Imperial City lessened dramatically.

Conversely...

...the pressure on Lu Chao skyrocketed. The twenty Yan Soul Guards swarmed him, some attacking in close quarters, some firing arrows, while others pressed him from above and below.

If he couldn’t continuously form his Blood Sword and Swift Sword, Lu Chao would have been utterly overwhelmed.

Suddenly... THWACK!

The Flying Feather Black Eagle shrieked in pain, an arrow embedded in its wing. The beast, which had been fighting as recklessly as its master, instantly lost its balance in the air.

In aerial combat, an injured Demon Beast mount was a death sentence.

Seeing this, Lu Chao gritted his teeth and yelled, ”Go! We’re leaving the Great Wu Imperial City, now!”

Using Wind Manipulation’s Frenzy Flash to accelerate the surrounding winds, Lu Chao and his wounded Flying Feather Black Eagle shot away to the north.

’Can’t fight anymore. We have to run.’

”After him! Don’t let Lu Chao escape!”

”That kid is too terrifying. If he’s allowed to mature, he’ll become a grave threat to Yan Soul City.”

The twenty Yan Soul Guards gave chase at once. With its arrow wound, the Flying Feather Black Eagle was no longer much faster than their Flying Wolves.

And so, the lone figure of a black eagle was pursued by twenty True Fate Realm Flying Wolves.

The chase, twenty against one, flew past Lu Dingtian and Chi Xingxun’s forces.

At that moment, Chi Xingxun and Lu Dingtian were also locked in a fierce battle with more than a dozen Yan Soul Guards.

The others were essentially useless; it was practically Chi Xingxun alone fighting against them.

One of the Yan Soul Guards stared at Lu Dingtian, his voice dripping with cold fury. ”Lu Dingtian. You’re still alive. You dare betray Lord Mo Jing by ignoring his summons, and now you’ve joined Red Sword City?”

Seeing Lu Dingtian alive and well, the Yan Soul Guards were naturally about to explode with rage.

Lu Dingtian’s mouth twitched. He was utterly speechless.

「At the same time...」

In the midst of the frantic battle, Chi Xingxun roared viciously, ”Lu Chao of the Azure Flame Sect! As long as I draw breath, I will slaughter everyone in your Azure Flame Domain!”

Having seen Lu Chao flash past overhead, Chi Xingxun couldn’t stop himself from roaring out threat after threat.

Commander Ke was dead, killed by Lu Chao. Now, aside from the men of Chi Yuan, Chi Xingxun had no personal guards left.

’And damn it all, it was a trap...’

If he had gone along with Commander Ke earlier, he would be dead now. The thought terrified him. If it weren’t for Commander Ke’s desperate last stand and his warning, Chi Xingxun would never have made it out of the Great Wu Imperial City.

’And now, damn it, he was being cut off by the Yan Soul Guard.’

Chi Xingxun felt that ever since meeting Lu Chao, his life had become one miserable disaster after another.

He never stopped to consider that none of this would have happened if he hadn’t decided to ’play with’ a woman from the Azure Flame Domain, if he hadn’t abducted Chang Yuan’s wife, Le Chun.

In any case, Chi Xingxun, along with Lu Dingtian and his several hundred riders, was now fighting a desperate running battle.

Even for a genius of the Cyan Sword Great Empire, it was an unbearably difficult fight. He repeatedly and frantically asked, ”Lu Dingtian, when will your hundred thousand soldiers get here?”

While directing his few hundred riders against the Yan Soul Guard, Lu Dingtian broke out in a cold sweat. ”Soon,” he stammered, ”They should be here soon.”

...

「Inside the Great Wu Imperial City...」

The group led by Cheng Yunsu and Dongfang Ren desperately held off ten Yan Soul Guards, but their people were still being cut down.

The city remained in utter chaos...

Thankfully, more and more people rallied to Yin Ye’s side, swelling his ranks. This allowed Cheng Yunsu and the others to fall back into the protection of the army when, finally... BOOM!

Yin Ye gathered the combined power of his army to furiously block a terrifying assault from the ten Yan Soul Guards.

They then began a fighting retreat toward the Hundred Countries’ Armies outside the city, still suffering constant casualties.

After a full half-hour of this frantic battle, the ten Yan Soul Guards, seeing they could not kill Yin Ye and his group, abruptly vanished.

Whether they had truly left, no one knew.

In any case, Cheng Yunsu relayed Lu Chao’s instructions: the priority was to protect the lives of all their key people. For now, that meant they would not go into hiding.

Instead, they would use the armies of Great Wu and the Hundred Countries for protection, remaining within the military cordon at all times.

Finally, Cheng Yunsu took a variety of items out of her Fire Sparrow Bracelet.

”These are Azure Flame Bone-Refining Pills. This is the Azure Flame Sect’s Refining Flame Technique and other Cultivation Techniques. These are Martial Techniques from the Azure Flame Sect, like the Thousand Kills Spear. Here is the formula for the Bone Refining Pill, and this is the formula for the Azure Flame Bone-Raising Pill...”

One by one, Cheng Yunsu brought out treasures belonging to the Azure Flame Sect.

Some were from the six Storage Rings found on the seventh floor of the Forbidden Land, while others were things Lu Chao had recently created from the Azure Flame Treasure Manual. In short, Cheng Yunsu shared everything.

After laying everything out, Cheng Yunsu looked at the key figures gathered around her.

”From now on, everyone must cultivate like their lives depend on it.”

”The Cyan Sword Great Empire is formidable, but if we have enough time, we can win. Everything from the Azure Flame Sect can increase our strength in every way. These are all treasures from the sect’s Forbidden Land.”

”Two hundred years ago, the Azure Flame Sect was stronger than the Cyan Sword Great Empire.”

And so, everyone, including Dongfang Ren and Yin Ye, immediately began to cultivate with frantic determination.

And with Lu Dingtian’s rebellious faction purged, the Great Wu Empire was now a monolithic, united front.

It was just as the Emperor of Great Wu had said: if they simply allowed the Cyan Sword Great Empire to invade, Great Wu would surely fall. He could not let the empire be destroyed on his watch. The only path forward was to lead everyone in a desperate push to cultivate.

The Great Wu Royal Family was the Saint Bone Wu Family, and their heritage was far beyond that of any ordinary Saint Bone Family.

With the resources from the Azure Flame Sect, their power was bound to explode.

”This is the Heavenly Destiny World, where the Martial Dao reigns supreme. If just one person becomes strong enough, they can drive out all our foes.”

These were the words of the Second Prince, Wu Zhiqiu, and his meaning was clear: he was talking about Lu Chao. But at this very moment, Lu Chao was being hunted by twenty Yan Soul Guards, and his situation was perilous in the extreme.