Divine Emperor of Heavenly Destiny

Niu Dong’s expression was thunderous. ”Young Master, say no more!” he pleaded.

But Yan Mu ignored him and continued to rant, ”That’s right! We’ve already mobilized our forces and can invade your Azure Flame Domain at any moment. I just came ahead of schedule to see for myself what a bunch of trash you country bumpkins are.”

”Get on your knees right now! Or I’ll slaughter your whole family and annihilate your entire clan.”

The entire crowd stared, dumbfounded, at Yan Mu’s contorted face.

Then, their gazes shifted to Lu Dingtian. ’Didn’t you just say he was here for a friendly exchange?’

Pfft...

Just then, Yu Xiaoping could no longer hold back a laugh. She said with a grin, ”You keep calling everyone a country bumpkin and a piece of trash. So what does that make you, the one who just got defeated? The biggest piece of trash of all?”

For a moment, Yan Mu froze.

It was only then that he remembered. ’I... I actually lost!’

Niu Dong, however, whipped his head toward Yu Xiaoping and roared, ”You dare mock our Young Master? Die!”

The moment the word was out, Niu Dong shot off the fighting stage, lunging to kill Yu Xiaoping.

’I have to make a powerful show of force,’ he thought. ’I have to capture this Lu Chao to create a counter-threat, to force a hostage exchange.’

’Otherwise, there’s no telling what else Young Master Yan might say.’

And so, Niu Dong shot toward Yu Xiaoping with terrifying speed, but Yin Ye was already prepared...

”Everyone, Gathering Power! With my halberd!”

As a top general of the Dragon Flame Kingdom and the one who had broken through the 5th Floor of the Azure Flame Sect’s Forbidden Land, Yin Ye’s command over his forces was peerless. In an instant, everyone focused their power onto his Heavy Halberd.

With a loud BOOM, Niu Dong was sent flying backward.

Yin Ye then commanded, ”Everyone, mount your horses! Immediately!”

As mentioned before, all the warhorses had already been brought in from outside the small town. Upon hearing the command, the members of the Dragon Flame Academy and the Small Kingdoms swiftly retreated and vaulted onto their steeds.

Then, Yin Ye once again pointed his halberd at Niu Dong...

This time he didn’t speak. Instead, he channeled the energy of everyone present, causing their collective battle intent to surge.

Meanwhile, up on the stage, Lu Chao continued, ”Does anyone still dare to claim I’m the one who provoked the Cyan Sword Great Empire? This Supreme Commander, Young Master Yan, has made it perfectly clear that he intends to lead his army into the Azure Flame Domain.”

His voice thundered in all directions, causing the expressions on Lu Dingtian, Nan Zhuiming, and the others to become indescribably grim.

Zheng Liling whispered in Lu Dingtian’s ear, ”Marshal Lu, this Young Master Yan is obviously a spoiled brat. He left out everything he was supposed to say and blurted out every damn thing he wasn’t.”

Lu Dingtian’s expression was incredibly strained. He recalled the words of that Lord Black Shadow.

’He gave me and Nan Zhuiming benefits in exchange for helping their Young Master easily conquer the entire Azure Flame Domain. He wanted us to cooperate, to put on an act so their Young Master would think he’d won it all on his own merit.’

’Now I finally understand,’ Lu Dingtian thought, ’why Lord Black Shadow had to arrange things this way.’

’This Yan Mu is a complete and utter moron.’

All he could do was shout forcefully, ”Rebellious son! It was your attempt to re-establish the Azure Flame Sect that provoked the Cyan Sword Great Empire!”

’There’s no time to worry about that now...’

Lu Dingtian had to maintain the moral high ground, insisting that this was all Lu Chao’s fault.

Lu Chao turned his gaze back to Lu Dingtian. ”Your own cultivation level has also risen suspiciously. It seems that just like Nan Zhuiming, you’ve colluded with the Cyan Sword Great Empire... Lu Dingtian, are you selling out the Great Wu Empire?”

At these words, Lu Dingtian’s face contorted. ”Rebellious son! You’re spouting nonsense!”

Ignoring him, Lu Chao turned back to Yan Mu, who was on the verge of a breakdown. ”Young Master Yan,” he asked, ”how about we have a chat?”

Yan Mu snapped his head up, trembling as he spoke. ”Country bumpkin, what sort of Evil Technique did you use on me? You must have used an Evil Technique to defeat me! You people from the Azure Flame Domain are bound to have wicked things like that.”

He still refused to believe that Lu Chao had defeated him fair and square.

Lu Chao frowned. ’I wanted to ask why the Cyan Sword Great Empire is suddenly invading, and if it’s really connected to the destruction of the Azure Flame Sect,’ he thought. ’But can I get anything out of Yan Mu when he’s like this?’

Suddenly, Niu Dong shouted again, ”Sword-Winged Ice Wolf, destroy them—”

Lu Chao’s eyes shot up. ’No time for questions.’ It was obvious the Sword-Winged Ice Wolf was a more terrifying existence than Niu Dong—a Demon Beast unheard of in the Azure Flame Domain. ’Several thousand men, even with their warhorses, might not be able to win against it.’

With this in mind, Lu Chao abruptly thrust his sword into Yan Mu’s shoulder. ”Call off that Demon Beast, or your Young Master dies!”

Seeing this, Niu Dong bit down so hard he drew blood. He had no choice but to quickly halt the Sword-Winged Ice Wolf...

He returned to the stage, staring at Lu Chao with raw killing intent. ”You dare harm our Young Master?”

THUD...

With Yan Mu in his grasp, Lu Chao took a heavy step off the stage, heading toward the Dragon Flame Academy’s contingent. His sword remained buried in Yan Mu’s shoulder. ”Make way,” he said. ”Anyone makes a move, he dies.”

Naturally, Niu Dong and the other guards refused to move, but Lu Chao gave his sword a slight twist, drawing a bloodcurdling scream from Yan Mu.

”Get out of the way! Get out of the way, damn it! It hurts so much!” Yan Mu shrieked at Niu Dong and the others.

With no other choice, Niu Dong and his men parted to let them pass...

And so, step by step, Lu Chao marched his captive back among the people from Dragon Flame, then hauled Yan Mu up with him as he vaulted onto a horse.

”Country bumpkin, what do you think you’re doing?” Niu Dong demanded as he watched Lu Chao mount up.

Lu Chao didn’t deign to answer him. Instead, he issued a sharp command: ”All troops, retreat! Rendezvous with our main army!”

And so, without a moment’s hesitation, Yin Ye and all the others wheeled their horses around and began to retreat from the small, temporary town built for the Three-Academy Tournament. Lu Chao brought up the rear.

With his grip still tight on Yan Mu, he called out coldly, ”If anyone follows, Yan Mu dies!”

His voice echoed throughout the small town, forcing Niu Dong and his men, who were about to give chase, to halt in their tracks.

The eleven guards were like ants on a hot griddle.

When Lu Chao was nearly out of sight, Niu Dong abruptly demanded, ”Who is Lu Dingtian? And who is Nan Zhuiming?”

Lord Mo Jing’s letter had stated that Lu Dingtian and Nan Zhuiming were their inside men, but that the Young Master was not to know. That was why Niu Dong hadn’t brought it up. Now that the Young Master had been taken away, he was free to ask.

Lu Dingtian and Nan Zhuiming exchanged a glance, but ultimately, they stepped forward...

”What in the world have you two been doing?”

”Now, figure out a way to rescue our Young Master, immediately!”

With that said, Niu Dong wasted no more breath. He leaped onto the Sword-Winged Ice Wolf and charged off in the direction Lu Chao had gone.

Lu Dingtian and Nan Zhuiming were left standing there in disarray... All eyes were now on them, cementing the fact that the two of them had colluded with the Cyan Sword Great Empire.

At that moment, Lu Dingtian and Nan Zhuiming were cursing furiously in their minds...

’Your Young Master is spoiled rotten, but are his guards morons, too?’

’By calling us out, how are we supposed to make our next move? How are we supposed to maintain the moral high ground?’

The hatred in their hearts was simply overwhelming!

But Niu Dong was in a complete panic. How could he possibly have considered such things?

Besides, in the eyes of Niu Dong and his men, Lu Dingtian and Nan Zhuiming were just country bumpkins. They had never taken them seriously in the first place.

Just then, Zheng Liling suddenly stepped forward. ”Marshal Lu, Patriarch Nan... My Saint Bone Zheng Family is willing to offer our humble services to you both. The Cyan Sword Great Empire is not an enemy we can afford to make. To fight them would be like throwing an egg against a rock.”