Divine Emperor of Heavenly Destiny

Lu Chao had noticed Li Wumian in the crowd long ago. Although his Martial Arts Realm had yet to return to its Peak, his battlefield instincts were even sharper than before. How could he have missed Li Wumian giving secret commands?

The thought had barely crossed his mind when—VWOOM!

Before Li Wumian and his disciple could react, a sharp, piercing whistle tore past their ears.

They instinctively turned to look, only to see three glinting arrows streaking toward them.

At the sight, Li Wumian instinctively unleashed a blast of True Qi, swatting the first arrow away. The other two arrows, however, followed close behind—and they weren’t aimed at him, but at the person beside him... Ren Hui.

Although Ren Hui was also an Innate Master, how could she possibly react in time to arrows moving so fast?

All she could do was forcibly channel her True Qi and shift her body a tiny bit... THWIP! THWIP!

One arrow struck her square in the shoulder, while the other sliced clean through the side of her arm. A chunk of flesh, torn away with fabric and blood, was sent flying high into the air.

Ren Hui let out an instinctive, blood-curdling scream!

Beside her, Li Wumian’s eyes widened as he stared toward the city gate guards.

He saw that Lu Chao, at some unknown point, was now holding a longbow, its string still vibrating into a blur of afterimages.

Li Wumian’s expression twisted into a ferocious snarl. ’Fake Lu Chao again.’

”Fake Lu Chao, just you wait! The real show is about to start. Your checkmate is coming soon.”

After delivering this threat, Li Wumian scooped up the injured Ren Hui, turned, and fled. As before, he could not allow himself to be caught.

In the blink of an eye, master and disciple vanished into the crowd...

Lu Chao, of course, did not pursue them. Instead, he slowly lowered the longbow and handed it back to the gate guard beside him.

The gate guard blinked. ’When did my bow end up in this kid’s hands?’

Ignoring the guard, Lu Chao turned to Luo Wendeng and the others, asking softly, ”Is everyone alright?”

Still shaken, the group replied that they were fine...

Yu Xiaoping cursed, ”Damn that Li Wumian! We let him go, and he immediately turns around to attack us.”

Tan An chimed in with his own curse, ”Exactly! If we had known, we should have just finished him off back at the ruins of the Azure Flame Sect.”

Because of what Lu Chao had just done, the group finally realized that the attack had been orchestrated by Li Wumian from the shadows.

To deflect the pressure of the inevitable investigations, he had even used a young noble as a scapegoat to pin the blame on...

Lu Chao gently shook his head. They’d had no choice but to release Li Wumian back then. Marquis Jilong wanted to resettle the descendants of the Azure Flame Sect, and killing Li Wumian would have created immense resistance, practically guaranteeing the plan’s failure.

But now, the confrontation had begun anew.

”Li Wumian couldn’t have pulled this off on his own. The Celestial King Academy is behind this,” Lu Chao stated coldly.

’The Celestial King Academy must be trying to give Marquis Jilong, Yin Ye, a stern warning and retaliate against him. At the same time, they want to stop the Dragon Flame Academy from competing for the Beast Flame Academy’s Outer Courtyard slots...’

There were five young people this time, all descendants of the Azure Flame Sect.

They were Luo Wendeng, Tan An, Yu Xiaoping, and Fan Jinxiang... along with another named Luo Wendun, who was Luo Wendeng’s younger brother.

Although none of them had reached the Innate realm yet, their talent was slightly superior to that of Jiang Yi and Jiang Yu.

With the help of the Divine Bone Nine Sons Array, reaching the Innate realm within a month wouldn’t be a major issue for them.

’To completely crush the Dragon Flame Academy, the Celestial King Academy needs to eliminate them. The Celestial King Academy is already so much more powerful than the Dragon Flame Academy, yet their methods are this insidious...’

There was no more time for talk. Soon, the group was detained by the gate guards. After all, several people had actually died. Nearby gate commanders and the like rushed to the scene and immediately ordered a pursuit of the dozens of attackers.

But everyone knew this was just for show; even if they tried in earnest, they would never catch them.

As for Li Wumian, the commanding officer of the gate didn’t mention him at all.

They didn’t give Lu Chao or the others a hard time, either. After all, they were all people from the Jilong Marquis’s Mansion. They were even served fine wine and food.

Before long, Yin Ye, who had been notified by the Jiang brothers, arrived, and Sun Shijin came with him.

They immediately took Lu Chao and the others away. The moment they stepped out of the City Guard Mansion, Yin Ye’s killing intent erupted. ”The Celestial King Academy... so utterly without principles! How dare they make a move right inside the Royal Capital!”

He was beyond furious...

The Azure Flame Sect was under his protection. This matter was not over.

Just as the words left his mouth, Yin Qixing hurried over. He glanced at Lu Chao and Cheng Yunsu before quickly whispering something in Yin Ye’s ear. In an instant, Yin Ye’s killing intent flared once more. ”What?!”

His fists clenched tightly. He slowly turned to face Lu Chao and Cheng Yunsu, his expression suddenly growing complicated.

Lu Chao and Cheng Yunsu were instantly filled with a sense of foreboding...

Finally, Yin Ye spoke, his voice hoarse. ”Lu Chao, I have failed you. Your father-in-law... he’s been taken.”

Hearing this, Cheng Yunsu froze, her lips beginning to tremble.

Lu Chao, however, quickly reigned in his fury. A cold glint flashed in his eyes as he asked, ”The Saint Bone Su Family?”

Yin Ye nodded and replied quietly...

”It was most likely the work of the Saint Bone Su Family.”

”But don’t be too worried. I’ve already investigated. The reason the Saint Bone Su Family wants to bring back their illegitimate children is for the Saint Bone Ceremony.”

Yin Ye went on to explain the Saint Bone Su Family’s current situation.

Essentially, the Su Family’s Saint Bone lineage had been severed, and they needed to find their illegitimate offspring to hold a second Saint Bone Ceremony.

They were hoping that one of these children would awaken a Saint Bone.

In conclusion, Yin Ye added, ”This is the ’great opportunity’ that Elder Lady Su mentioned she would give you.”

Hearing this, Fan Jinhua couldn’t help but interject, ”It really is a great opportunity. He might even awaken a Saint Bone.”

However, although Cheng Yunsu let out a sigh of relief, her expression remained detached.

Her father, Cheng Chuming, simply wasn’t interested in such things.

Lu Chao, however, frowned after hearing the explanation.

He mulled it over for a moment before saying in a low voice, ”Based on your analysis, Marquis, I don’t think it was the Saint Bone Su Family who took my father-in-law.”

As soon as he said this, all eyes turned to Lu Chao...

Taking a deep breath, Lu Chao continued, ”If the Saint Bone Ceremony hasn’t started yet, I don’t think Elder Lady Su, with her cautious attitude, would risk storming the Jilong Marquis’s Mansion.”

A glint appeared in the eyes of Yin Ye and the others as they began to think it over carefully.

Cheng Yunsu’s face, however, turned pale again...

Lu Chao spoke again, his voice soft. ”If the Celestial King Academy is truly so without principles and is dead set on retaliating against the Marquis, then they might have been the ones to take my father-in-law. Although I feel it’s unlikely, I can’t shake this nagging sense of unease.”

’An ordinary person wouldn’t stoop to this, but the Celestial King Academy is so overbearing... They tried to kill Fan Jinhua and the others in public. With them, it’s hard to say.’

’Besides, if the Saint Bone Ceremony hasn’t even begun...’

’The Saint Bone Su Family wouldn’t assume my father-in-law or Xiao Su’er have a chance of awakening a Saint Bone. Only if the second Saint Bone Ceremony fails and still no one awakens a Saint Bone would they risk gravely offending Marquis Jilong.’

’If no one awakens a Saint Bone, then, in their desperation, they might throw caution to the wind and seize my father-in-law and Xiao Su’er to make another attempt.’

Just at that moment... CLAP! CLAP! CLAP!

The sound of slow clapping suddenly echoed from a distance.

Zheng Zhuhai approached, leading a squad of Celestial King Students. ”As expected of the Fake Lu Chao. An excellent analysis, and absolutely correct!”