Divine Emperor of Heavenly Destiny

For a moment, Lu Hanyan froze again...

Then her expression darkened. ”Fake Lu Chao,” she snarled, ”I’ll admit, your act is very convincing. For a second, I almost thought you were my real Brother Chao. But it’s a pity you’re only at the Third Layer of Transformation.”

The moment she finished speaking... VMM!

The Water Chant Saint Bone inside her suddenly erupted with True Qi...

It was the aura of a Ninth Layer of Transformation expert.

With a CLANG, Lu Hanyan also drew her sword and pointed it at Lu Chao. ”Fake Lu Chao, you’ve copied everything perfectly, but your realm is far too inferior to that deadbeat Brother Chao. The aura of your Bone of Myriad Stars is also trash.”

”Suffer an unexpected setback? How exactly are you going to make that happen?”

”You can’t possibly think you can escape from me with your mere Third Layer of Transformation, can you?”

”I heard you performed exceptionally well during the battle for the Beast Flame slots, fighting and winning against those in higher realms... But you don’t actually believe you can do the same to me, do you? I, Lu Hanyan, am not one of those good-for-nothings from the Hundred Countries.”

As she spoke, the aura of her Saint Bone intensified, and her True Qi seemed to hum with the sound of flowing water.

It was a feeling Lu Chao knew all too well.

He could almost feel the Water Chant Saint Bone desperately trying to return to his body, only to be completely suppressed.

Back in Yangzhou City...

Lu Hanyan had only just fused with the Water Chant Saint Bone for a little over a month, so she could still sense its resistance.

Now, more than half a year had passed since that day in Yangzhou City. It was safe to say Lu Hanyan had completely conquered and thoroughly fused with the Water Chant Saint Bone. It could no longer resist her in any way.

Unless Lu Chao were to forcibly call out to it...

But the current Lu Chao didn’t call out to the Water Chant Saint Bone, because he wasn’t ready to reveal himself yet.

”Little Sister Hanyan, have you forgotten what Brother Chao always warned you about?”

Lu Chao continued to walk forward, sword in hand, his voice utterly placid.

But his tone was the one Lu Hanyan knew so well. ”In all things, you must show reverence and never become complacent. The Heavenly Destiny World is vast and boundless; you must learn to look at the bigger picture.”

The words echoed in Lu Hanyan’s ears.

And these were the exact words Lu Chao had once said to her.

This sent Lu Hanyan into a trance for a moment. Then, her face twisted into a vicious snarl. ”How dare you continue to mimic that worthless cur, Lu Chao! I already told you, your realm is far too inferior to his!”

Unable to control her emotions any longer, Lu Hanyan’s sword shot out like a ripple of water, stabbing toward Lu Chao.

She was incredibly agitated. The Fake Lu Chao was always mimicking him, and his tone was practically identical.

At this moment, a voice in her heart seemed to tell her that the man before her was the real Lu Chao...

But that was impossible. She had watched with her own eyes as her father killed the real Lu Chao. She had personally stripped the bones from his body, one by one.

This Lu Chao had to be a fake.

But this fake was making her feel like he was the real deal, striking panic, even terror, into her heart. The feeling was unbearable. So she had to kill him... she had to kill this Fake Lu Chao, and fast.

Lu Chao met Lu Hanyan’s Sword Wave head-on. The aura of his Slaughter Sword Bone erupted as he raised his sword and unleashed the Thousand Kills Slaughter Sword.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!...

His impossibly fast sword continuously clashed with Lu Hanyan’s Sword Wave, producing a series of sharp, metallic shrieks.

At the same time, Lu Chao spoke again. ”You were just calling me Brother Chao. Why the sudden change to such ugly words?”

Lu Hanyan’s expression changed again upon hearing his words. She realized the Fake Lu Chao’s sword was truly fast...

Lu Chao continued, ”Little Sister Hanyan, your Sword Technique still isn’t polished enough. Although your True Qi and realm have improved, your foundation is still very unstable. I warned you that every step must be taken with slow and steady precision.”

As his words fell, an image of the real Lu Chao teaching her the sword flashed through Lu Hanyan’s mind.

The next instant... CLANG!

Her Sword Wave was pierced. The Fake Lu Chao’s impossibly fast sword thrust toward her face.

Not daring to be careless, Lu Hanyan quickly condensed Water Chant True Qi in her other hand and slapped it at Lu Chao’s sword, barely managing to knock it away just before it reached her face. She then staggered back several steps—THUMP, THUMP, THUMP.

Only after a dozen paces did she finally manage to stop.

Lu Chao advanced again, sword in hand, his aura growing stronger. ”Little Sister Hanyan, that was a close call. If your Brother Chao’s realm had reached the Fourth Layer of Transformation, you might have just died.”

In response, Lu Hanyan suddenly shrieked, ”Stop talking!”

’It’s too real, it’s too real...’

’The feeling is making me want to explode. I can’t calm down.’

In the next moment, Lu Chao’s voice suddenly turned cold...

”Weren’t you the one who told me to praise you? Weren’t you the one who told me to act like the real Lu Chao? What, now you don’t want me to? Are you afraid the real Lu Chao has become a Fierce Ghost, coming to claim your lives?”

Lu Hanyan’s whole body began to tremble violently and unconsciously...

But Lu Chao just smiled. ”Little Sister Hanyan, I also used to say, ’If you live with a clear conscience, you won’t fear a ghost knocking at midnight.’”

As soon as he said it... ”AHH!”

Lu Hanyan couldn’t help but scream. She roared, ”You fake! I’ll kill you! I’m going to kill you!”

She had suddenly gone berserk, driven completely mad by Lu Chao.

She once again erupted with her body’s full Water Chant True Qi, unleashing a frantic flurry of sword strikes at Lu Chao. Her voice was dripping with chilling intent. ”No matter how good your act is, you’re still a fake! You’re just a piece of trash at the Third Layer of Transformation Realm!”

With that, Lu Hanyan attacked with her full power.

Her combat strength was, of course, terrifying. Don’t forget, she had single-handedly annihilated the experts among the Descendants of Azure Flame, like Fan Jinhua, who had tried to assassinate her. And the Lu Hanyan of back then was, of course, not as strong as she was now.

But the one she was facing was... Lu Chao!

Lu Chao, the possessor of the Life-taking Star-devouring Bone; Lu Chao, the one who knew her down to her very core. Her entire Martial Dao had practically been built up by him. Therefore, even with a six-layer gap in their realms, Lu Chao was completely at ease.

What’s more, the Heavenly Destiny Saint Bone she possessed had originally belonged to him.

His Thousand Kills Slaughter Sword weaved effortlessly through Lu Hanyan’s Water Chant Bone True Qi. Lu Chao stopped talking; he needed to rendezvous with the Dragon Flame Academy as soon as possible. He still had to lead the troops to face the Three Great Flame Countries.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!...

The sound of swords meeting echoed ceaselessly between them.

Lu Chao, at only the Third Layer of Transformation Realm, was actually suppressing Lu Hanyan.

If her True Qi Realm weren’t a full six layers higher, allowing her to frantically block with pure True Qi, she would have been defeated long ago.

Thus, Lu Chao forced Lu Hanyan to retreat again and again.

「In the blink of an eye...」

The two of them completely left the dark woods of the Azure Flame Forbidden Land. But Lu Chao suddenly retracted his sword and fell back. He looked toward the Beast Flame Battlefield. His Dragon General Bone could clearly sense that the Dragon Flame Academy was on the verge of being overwhelmed.

He gave Lu Hanyan a faint glance, then said coldly, ”During the Three Academies’ Tournament, I will take your life.”

’During the Three Academies’ Tournament...’

’I’ll wipe out the siblings, Lu Hanyan and Lu Hanyang, in one fell swoop. And I’ll make Lu Dingtian watch them die with his own eyes.’

With that said...

Lu Chao turned to head toward the battlefield. He had to get back there quickly; he couldn’t afford to waste any more time on Lu Hanyan here.

But Lu Hanyan roared, ”Someone, block the Fake Lu Chao for me!”