Chapter 68: Divine Power

What are you doing?

Song Ce, furious and spitting foam, shouted: “Even the Marquis of Wenguan has agreed to hold the rear—why won’t you all leave? Fine! You stay and hold the rear; anyone who wants to leave, follow me!”

Under Song Ce’s gaze, those who hadn’t declared their intentions all shook their heads.

“Sigh!” Lingxiao Daoist sighed, retracting the Eight Trigrams Flag. “Since none of you wish to leave, then fight. It’s not the best strategy, but it’s not without hope.”

…

Song Ce stared in disbelief, unable to understand whether he was the odd one out or these people were—why risk death when you can live? How could they possibly win?

Wang Teng sneered: “Why don’t you go first, then?”

Go first?

Song Ce was so enraged he felt like spitting blood. He’d taken the Barbarian Poison Pill; though he’d mostly neutralized the poison with scholarly qi, forming Grand Confucian Qi was difficult. Any barbarian beast that caught up would kill him—how could he leave?

“I’m thinking of everyone’s safety! Do you really think I’m a coward? Fine! If none of you will leave, then let’s all die together!”

Song Ce snapped irritably.

Lu Fang shook his head gravely: “You… sigh! I won’t leave because the Golden-Haired Demon Ape wants to toy with me before killing me. I can’t imagine any scenario where he’d let me go.”

“More likely, he’ll let me agree just to mock me—so I’m willing to hold the rear.”

“You should leave quickly. Preserve the green mountains…”

Clap! Clap! Clap!

The Golden-Haired Demon Ape clapped his hands: “They want to leave? I didn’t agree—and they won’t. This Lu Fang is mine. You kill all these humans!”

At that moment, petals of peach blossom drifted down, forming a circle around the Golden-Haired Demon Ape—the Chant of Buried Flowers locked onto its target!

Lu Fang raised both hands diagonally upward to his chest and clenched them tightly. Guan Yun Chang reappeared once more; the overwhelming aura struck fear into the barbarian beasts, forcing them all to retreat several steps.

Chi Jue frowned: “His blade qi is unnaturally strong. All of you—strike together! Eliminate him first!”

Bai Jinghu stared fixedly at Lu Fang, his tiger body trembling as demonic aura surged violently.

“Good! Let’s eliminate him first!” The Golden-Haired Demon Ape grinned savagely.

“Green Dragon Crescent Blade Slash!”

Lu Fang unleashed his ten-soul, supreme-force strike. The moment the blade qi appeared, it swept forward at incredible speed.

The Golden-Haired Demon Ape’s demonic aura surged outward, forming a monstrous ape several zhang tall that slammed into the blade qi. Bai Jinghu and Chi Jue each unleashed their own techniques; together, the three of them forcibly blocked the attack!

Boom!

The massive energy shockwave uprooted trees around them, hurling both barbarians and humans backward several zhang.

The Golden-Haired Demon Ape’s expression turned grim. Lu Fang’s slash was several times stronger than he’d anticipated. Had he not blocked it with Chi Jue and Bai Jinghu, he might have been injured.

Bai Jinghu’s throat tightened with blood—he swallowed it back.

Blood trickled from Chi Jue’s lips. He wiped it away and said grimly: “We must crush this boy here. That attack was a charged technique—otherwise, its power wouldn’t be this great!”

Lu Fang smiled and whispered to Lingxiao Daoist: “I may not be able to protect you soon, but I’ll draw away the three strongest foes. Hold out for half an hour—I’ll return.”

Lingxiao Daoist’s face remained expressionless. He whispered back: “An hour is fine.”

Lu Fang nodded, turned to the Golden-Haired Demon Ape, Chi Jue, and Bai Jinghu, and said: “You want to kill me? Then…”

Before he finished speaking, he shot away as a streak of golden light.

The Golden-Haired Demon Ape snorted and led the chase. Chi Jue and Bai Jinghu followed close behind. In their eyes, killing the Prophecy-Bearer mattered far more than slaughtering the two dozen humans left behind.

Besides, even if they left, the barbarians still outnumbered them.

“Did the Marquis of Wenguan run away?”

Song Ce wanted to curse.

Wang Teng, annoyed by Song Ce, snapped coldly: “Is that running? Are you blind? Didn’t the Marquis draw off the three strongest barbarian warriors? Do you think everyone’s like you?”

Song Ce roared: “But what good does it do? We’re still all going to die!”

“Shut up!”

Tao Yidie snapped irritably.

“The Marquis said hold out for half an hour—he’ll return?” Lingxiao Daoist flicked his palms, and seven small Eight Trigrams Flags materialized, then shot out to surround everyone. Thick fog rose once more.

But this time, the fog was faint. When the barbarians charged into the array, no metallic chimes echoed in their ears.

“These humans are barely clinging to life—attack together!”

“They must carry many rare treasures. Whoever kills them, the unclaimed items are his.”

“Kill them all!”

………

As Lu Fang sped forward, he glanced back. Seeing the Golden-Haired Demon Ape, Chi Jue, and Bai Jinghu all chasing him, his eyes lit with relief—good, they came. He feared they wouldn’t.

He chose to lure the three behind him to another battlefield for two reasons:

First, he feared that if they couldn’t break him quickly, they’d turn to attack the others—forcing him to split his attention.

Second, if he couldn’t defeat the three strongest barbarians, he could use his speed advantage to circle back and catch the remaining beasts off guard, then lead everyone to safety.

“Marquis of Wenguan! Your strongest strike couldn’t even harm us three—you have no chance of winning.”

The Golden-Haired Demon Ape chuckled.

Bai Jinghu roared in the human tongue: “Marquis of Wenguan, you die with honor. With all three of us working together, even a seventh-rank human sage would perish here.”

Chi Jue leapt dozens of zhang through the air, his voice cautious: “Don’t underestimate him. This boy possesses an ancient divine technique. That charged slash was devastating.”

Lu Fang said nothing, merely controlled his speed as he flew southward.

After about a quarter-hour, Lu Fang halted atop a vast wasteland.

The land stretched endlessly, its soil a rust-red hue, barren of all vegetation—an ideal battlefield.

Chi Jue grinned: “So this is your chosen grave?”

Bai Jinghu said nothing. He slashed his paw through the air—ten wind claws appeared around Lu Fang. With a hiss, Lu Fang couldn’t dodge in time; the hem of his robe was torn apart.

The Golden-Haired Demon Ape sneered. His robe stirred without wind, demonic aura rising like rolling smoke. His golden third eye glowed, releasing powerful energy ripples.

“Such immense demonic power!”

Bai Jinghu gasped, involuntarily halting his attack.

Chi Jue’s face darkened. He knew the Golden-Haired Demon Ape was strong—but not this strong. He hesitated: “Did you gain this from the Xuanlight Qi Bubble?”

The Golden-Haired Demon Ape couldn’t hide his delight. Hovering in midair, he laughed: “This is the divine power of the Divine Race. It feels stronger than the combined demonic power of my two previous forms!”