Divine Emperor of Heavenly Destiny

Hearing this, the Yan Soul Guards all clenched their fists.

Suddenly, the strongest of the Yan Soul Guards spoke in a grim voice...

”We need to break through too. We have to find a way to gather some medicinal ingredients here to help us push into the Creation Realm.”

”Our natural talent is limited, making it difficult to reach the Creation Realm, but given the current situation, we have no choice. Otherwise, we’ll fail our mission.”

The Yan Soul Guards had long since discovered that there were numerous Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures within the Nether Spring Mountain Range that could be used to achieve a breakthrough.

They were all middle-aged men who had essentially reached the Peak of the Peak Realm, making it extremely difficult for them to advance any further.

However, with powerful enough Elixir Pills to force the process, a breakthrough was possible—much like how Mo Jing had forcibly raised Lu Dingtian and the others to the Creation Realm.

Of course, a forced advancement like Lu Dingtian’s came with significant drawbacks, something they wished to avoid. But right now, they had no other choice.

Having made their decision, the Yan Soul Guards no longer pursued him so aggressively.

In any case, Lu Chao had been hit with their Cloud-Chasing Sand. As long as they could smell its scent on him, they could track him. Their main priority now was to gather various medicinal ingredients to help themselves break through while continuing the chase.

Meanwhile, Lu Chao had naturally noticed the Yan Soul Guards’ change in behavior...

’Since you’re not chasing, I won’t bother running. You’re trying to find a way to break through? Well, I’ll keep breaking through too.’

’The Azure Flame Treasure Manual also contains records of many medicinal herbs.’

When it came to identifying various Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, Lu Chao, who had grown up in the Azure Flame Domain, was naturally not as knowledgeable as the Yan Soul Guards.

But he had the Azure Flame Treasure Manual. He immediately flipped it open to the pages on Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures.

He began to study and memorize everything.

It was just as Elder Sect Leader Cang Xu had written in his message two hundred years ago: the *Azure Flame Treasure Manual* contained everything. As long as the Azure Flame Sect had recorded it two centuries ago, it would be in the Treasure Manual.

Lu Chao could even find a Demon Beast Atlas and illustrations of all types of Destiny Bones.

A few more days passed...

Lu Chao found several types of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures. According to the Azure Flame Treasure Manual, these items needed to be refined into Elixir Pills to maximize their medicinal effects; consuming them raw would be a waste.

However, consuming them raw would still produce some effect. For Lu Chao, in his current situation, the choice was obvious... he would eat them raw.

And so, Lu Chao broke through again, reaching the Peak Seventh Layer.

He had just broken through when the Yan Soul Guards charged over.

They roared with laughter. ”Lu Chao, you little brat! One of us has reached the Creation Realm! And the ingredients we found allowed for a true advancement, not a forced one. You have no escape now!”

Hearing this, Lu Chao looked up calmly. ”My apologies, but I broke through too.”

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG...

The two sides clashed again. Facing a Yan Soul Guard who was in the Creation Realm, the battle was still terrifyingly brutal. But Lu Chao didn’t want to fight to the death in this environment, so he vanished once more.

The two sides continued their entanglement within the Nether Spring Mountain Range, both maintaining a tacit understanding not to venture deeper...

In the blink of an eye, a full twenty days had passed since Lu Chao had entered the Nether Spring Mountain Range.

Lu Chao’s cultivation had also reached the Peak of the Peak Realm Seventh Layer, just a single step away from the Eighth Layer.

This was again thanks to finding all sorts of decent medicinal ingredients.

’In another two days, I should be able to reach the Peak Eighth Layer.’

Beneath a large tree, Lu Chao sat cross-legged, a sharp glint in his eyes. But at that very moment... ROAR!

A terrifying roar exploded, seeming to shake the very earth...

A violent tremor ran through Lu Chao’s body, and he quickly looked in the direction of the roar.

His eyes widened slightly. ”That’s the direction of the Yan Soul Guards. There’s a Creation Realm Demon Beast over there, and it’s far beyond the Creation First Layer. Its aura is even stronger than Vice Commander Liu’s.”

Of the Creation Realm experts he had encountered, aside from Nan Zhuiming and Lu Dingtian who had been forcibly advanced, there was only the recently promoted Yan Soul Guard and Vice Commander Liu.

Vice Commander Liu was at the Sixth Layer of Creation, yet the roar of this suddenly appearing Demon Beast was even stronger than his.

’The Yan Soul Guards... what did they provoke? Why would a Creation Realm Demon Beast suddenly appear?’

’For twenty whole days, they hadn’t encountered a single Creation Realm Demon Beast, proving there weren’t any in this area. So why is there one now?’

Just as Lu Chao’s expression flickered with surprise and uncertainty... SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

Suddenly, the twelve Yan Soul Guards rushed over.

But they didn’t approach Lu Chao. Instead, one of them suddenly called out, ”Lu Chao, you little brat, this is your lucky day! I have a Moon-Level Earth Grade Blue Dew Fruit here, and it’s all yours.”

With that, the Yan Soul Guard who had spoken tossed a blue fruit toward Lu Chao.

Lu Chao caught it easily, his expression changing slightly. According to the ”Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures” section of the *Azure Flame Treasure Manual*, both Elixir Pills and Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures were graded using a classification system similar to that of Destiny Bones.

A Moon-level Earth Tier Destiny Bone marked someone as a genius in the Cyan Sword Great Empire, a level represented by figures like Chi Xingxun.

Therefore, a Moon-Level Earth Grade fruit was naturally an exceptionally rare treasure.

’But I’m locked in a life-and-death struggle with the Yan Soul Guards. Why would they possibly give me something like this?’

The reason was obvious: ’The Yan Soul Guards picked this Blue Dew Fruit from somewhere, and it was being guarded by a powerful Creation Realm Demon Beast. They want to bait me into dealing with it for them.’

Sure enough... ROAR!

The moment Lu Chao caught the Blue Dew Fruit, a terrifying demonic aura locked onto him and pressed down with overwhelming force.

At the same time, the Yan Soul Guards spoke with sinister glee...

”Lu Chao, you little brat...”

”Even in our Cyan Sword Great Empire, people would fight to the death over this Blue Dew Fruit. It can raise you to the Peak Realm Ninth Layer, at least, and without the side effects that Lu Dingtian suffered. You’d better not throw it away.”

”Swallow it, and you’ll be able to kill us with ease.”

As they spoke, the Yan Soul Guards frantically fled into the distance...

However, after reaching a certain distance, they stopped to watch Lu Chao, wanting to see what he would do.

”He definitely won’t be able to bring himself to throw it away. He’ll have no choice but to run with the Blue Dew Fruit...”

”And that Creation Eighth Layer Thunder Leopard will catch up to him immediately. We’ll ambush him from behind later.”

One of the Yan Soul Guards said with a ghastly grin...

A second Yan Soul Guard nodded heavily. ”After the ambush, we’ll take back the Blue Dew Fruit.”

But a third Yan Soul Guard asked in a low voice, ”What if Lu Chao throws it away? Or what if he throws it back to us?”

Hearing this, the Yan Soul Guards looked at each other in dismay.

They clenched their fists tightly. They really couldn’t bear to part with the Blue Dew Fruit. If Lu Chao threw it away, the pursuing Thunder Leopard would surely devour it, and they would get nothing.

If Lu Chao threw it back to them, the Thunder Leopard would turn around and come after them instead.

”Why don’t we just leave? Don’t give Lu Chao the chance to throw it to us or catch up to us,” one of the Yan Soul Guards suggested.

But if they left, they wouldn’t know how Lu Chao handled the Blue Dew Fruit.

The Yan Soul Guards hesitated...

Meanwhile, Lu Chao stared at the Blue Dew Fruit in his hand. He now had three choices: throw it away, run with it, or throw it back to the Yan Soul Guards.

The last option was the best, but the Yan Soul Guards would surely just toss it aside as well.

’No. I have a fourth option... I’ll just eat it.’