Divine Emperor of Heavenly Destiny

This fighting style was far too dangerous.

But Lu Chao had already landed among the weeds beneath the tree, a long spear in his hand.

He strode toward the encircling soldiers charging in his direction and continued, ”Master Fan, quiet down. The enemy is here.”

The moment he finished speaking... RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE!

Dozens of Lu Hanyan’s soldiers burst from the woods, their eyes landing on Lu Chao immediately.

With a sharp look, the soldiers said coldly, ”There’s still someone who hasn’t entered Canyang Valley? He even killed a few of our men. Take him down.”

With that, the dozens of men charged at Lu Chao.

A smile crept onto Lu Chao’s face. He lightly licked the corner of his mouth as an unconscious battle lust began to radiate from him.

For him, aside from his battle with Lu Yan in Yangzhou City, everything else had been mere child’s play.

Even facing the volley of ten thousand arrows from Wu Wei hadn’t stirred much of his will to fight. But facing Lu Hanyan’s encirclement, Lu Chao was finally rediscovering the feeling of being on a true battlefield.

’This feeling... it’s incredible!’

Facing the dozens of charging men, Lu Chao murmured, ”Don’t get any ideas. I’m all they’ll need.”

Slaughter...

His long spear hummed through the forest as he charged straight at the dozens of soldiers before him.

These dozens of men were all ordinary soldiers who hadn’t even reached the Postnatal Realm. Their only advantage was their numbers.

For Lu Chao, it was no different from facing a single man.

In the blink of an eye, screams rang out one after another under Lu Chao’s spear. Just a few breaths later, every enemy soldier was dead.

Standing amidst the blood and dozens of corpses, Lu Chao looked back up at the large tree where the others were hiding.

”Xiao Su’er, you all stay up in the tree.”

”If an Innate Master shows up that I can’t handle yet, cover me with your arrows.”

”And remember, don’t you dare come down from this tree until I say so.”

Hearing Lu Chao’s orders, Cheng Yunsu nodded her understanding and relayed the instructions to the people Lu Chao had designated to stay behind.

At the same time, another voice rang out from the direction of Canyang Valley...

”It sounds like there are a lot of the assassins’ contacts over there. Send a squad.”

Having heard the screams of those dozens of men, an even larger force was now heading toward Lu Chao and the others.

Soon, the jungle was teeming with men—several hundred of them this time.

Lu Chao gripped his blood-drenched spear. ”Several hundred isn’t enough. Master Fan, you’ll have to wait for the next wave before you can leave.”

With that, Lu Chao let out a long cry and charged the incoming encirclement.

The onlookers in the tree saw Lu Chao become a ferocious beast, his spear a terrifying fang that tore right into the hundreds of encircling soldiers. Blood sprayed everywhere he passed; it was absolute carnage.

Fan Jinhua was stunned. Tan An stared blankly at Lu Chao.

Wu Caicai and Uncle Leng felt their scalps tingle. Cheng Chuming asked, ”Yunsu, what kind of husband have you found yourself?”

With a faint smile, Cheng Yunsu replied, ”Father, as long as Lu Chao is here, you have nothing to worry about.”

She was the only one whose expression didn’t change. To her, Lu Chao’s performance below couldn’t be more normal.

The recently rescued Yu Xiaoping finally came to her senses. ”Tan An, this man who saved me... who is he?”

Tan An lowered his head. ”A friend of Uncle Fan’s... I suppose.”

He didn’t know how to answer, because he didn’t really know him either.

Master Fan had only said he was a Hero they had met in Yangzhou City because of Wu Caicai. Tan An hadn’t been in the mood to ask for details.

Yu Xiaoping blinked, then suddenly looked down again and gasped, ”He... he killed them all!”

In the short time they had been talking, her benefactor had wiped out all several hundred of the encircling soldiers.

Once again standing atop the blood and corpses, Lu Chao gave his next set of orders.

”Master Fan, get ready to move out stealthily.”

”The third wave will have plenty of Innate Masters, including some minor commanders at the Innate Ninth Layer.”

”I’ll draw their attention. Once you reach Canyang Valley and reveal yourself, immediately lead the people inside and fight your way out. Follow the route we planned, toward the small mountain path on Zhengyang Mountain.”

Before arriving in Yangzhou City to find Cheng Yunsu, Lu Chao had passed through Canyang Valley.

His years of battlefield instincts had compelled him to memorize the terrain around Canyang Valley and Zhengyang Mountain.

On his way here, he had already planned the escape route for after the rescue.

At this point, Fan Jinhua was utterly speechless.

’If it were me trying to draw the attention of this vast army, what would the outcome be?’

Even as a Transformation Realm master, even if he were uninjured, he doubted he could have dispatched several hundred soldiers any faster than Lu Chao.

A rescue mission required a certain kind of fighting style.

And this style was simply domineering—not something just anyone could pull off.

Just as Lu Chao had predicted...

The deaths of several hundred soldiers finally led the deputy commander besieging Canyang Valley to believe that either a terrifyingly powerful expert had arrived or that a large number of the assassins’ allies were in the area.

The deputy commander immediately dispatched one-third of his forces to attack.

On her inspection tour of the cities along the Great Wu border, Lu Hanyan had brought sixty thousand regular soldiers and five thousand elites.

One-third of that force was twenty thousand men.

All at once, the surrounding forest began to tremble. The onlookers in the tree stared at the dense mass of figures, their scalps tingling once more.

When they were close enough, Lu Chao spoke again. ”Master Fan, don’t hesitate. Skirt around these troops and get moving.”

Fan Jinhua’s entire body trembled slightly. ’Facing such a massive army,’ he thought, ’can Lu Chao really handle this alone?’

In the end, he gritted his teeth and gestured to Tan An’s subordinates.

Led by Fan Jinhua, the dozens of them leaped through the forest, bypassing the twenty thousand attacking soldiers and making for Canyang Valley.

At the same time, Cheng Yunsu said to those who remained, ”Draw your bows! Ready!”

Her voice was firm, yet it still carried a faint tremor.

Even though she had immense faith in Lu Chao, this was the first time she had ever faced such a massive army.

Down below, Lu Chao reached out, smeared some blood from the ground, and painted it across his face.

He was afraid of being recognized. Although he had always worn a mask on campaigns at Lu Dingtian’s request, prominent figures like Lu Yan still knew his face.

’So I have to be careful.’

In other words, the common soldiers under Lu Dingtian’s command didn’t know what Lu Chao looked like.

Only the most central figures of the Grand Marshal’s Mansion recognized him.

In the past, Lu Chao had never understood why Lu Dingtian always insisted he wear a mask in front of outsiders.

According to Lu Dingtian, it was because...

...his potential was too great, and they had to guard against assassination by enemy nations. Also, the mask added an air of mystery that would strike greater fear into their enemies.

But now, Lu Chao knew that was all a load of bullshit.

It was simply Lu Dingtian, guarding against him all along. He was afraid Lu Chao’s prestige in the Great Wu Empire’s military would grow too high, afraid that when the time came to kill him and take the Saint Bone, the Great Wu soldiers and generals would suddenly rise up to defend him.

Lu Dingtian was even more terrified that if the truth was ever exposed, Lu Chao could give a single order and all the Great Wu Soldiers and Horses would flock to his side.

At this moment, Lu Chao’s face and body were covered in the blood of his enemies...

One man, one spear, standing amidst a forest of corpses.

The approaching twenty thousand soldiers ground to a halt. The minor commander at their head saw him and stood frozen in place. ”A single man?”