"How much longer until he arrives?" Behind Moluo Yinfeng stood Man Cangkai Dian, his face equally grim.
"We spotted traces of them at the border eight days ago," Yue Che said. "Going by their pace, it should be within the next two days." As he spoke, Yue Che still hesitated: "But will this ambush we've set really be effective?"
Ever since their defeat beneath the Throne City, Yue Che had harbored a deep dread of Jiuyao Shenzhen! This fear quickly led him to support Moluo Yinfeng’s plan for an ambush!
Both Yue Che and Moluo Yinfeng had been defeated by Jiuyao Shenzhen before, especially Moluo Yinfeng, whose understanding of Jiuyao Shenzhen was etched into his very soul!
In his view, allowing Jiuyao Shenzhen to enter the Celestial Sanctuary would spell absolute disaster.
This was an intuition rising from the deepest part of him.
The Celestial Sanctuary! A place riddled with peril!
It was crawling with all manner of terrifying monsters; even a master of Yue Che's Spirit Bead level dared not be careless! Under such circumstances, adding Jiuyao Shenzhen—that unpredictable element of danger—no one could foresee what might unfold!
Based on Moluo Yinfeng’s knowledge of Jiuyao Shenzhen, the more dangerous and complex the environment, the easier it was for him to fish in troubled waters. It was just like that time when the Four Great Clans and Shaba Ke joined forces to seize the Head of the Zuma Patriarch, only for Jiuyao Shenzhen to snatch the spoils at the final moment!
After repeated deliberation, Moluo Yinfeng insisted that this menace must be completely eliminated before they entered the Celestial Sanctuary!
"He will definitely come," Moluo Yinfeng stated deeply. "Even if he knows this is a trap, he will still come, because you are here." Moluo Yinfeng unconsciously glanced towards Yue Che.
Everyone present couldn't help but be taken aback!
"Could it really be for a woman?" Yue Che ground his teeth. "To push my Frost Tribe to such a desperate state."
"A dragon has reverse scales beneath its neck; touch them and it will rage and harm others," Moluo Yinfeng mused with a touch of melancholy. "For him, his kin are those very scales."
"I recall when my Wind Demon Empire captured his sister and brother as hostages, it drew him across ten thousand miles, chasing us to the Demon Sealing Continent," Yin Nuqu Lei, standing nearby, added with a look of dread. "He nearly wiped out the entire Wind Demon Empire in the end."
"The Black Flag Army was founded solely by him during that time. You have no idea what kind of person he is."
"His most terrifying aspect isn't his unfathomably profound strength," Gonggong Zhenqin offered. "It’s that near-cursed luck of his."
An involuntary sharp intake of breath followed!
The others had heard accounts of Jiuyao Shenzhen’s origins from Moluo Yinfeng and others hailing from the Mafa Continent!
Of course, they had only heard the rumors. While astonishing, many still felt it sounded somewhat exaggerated!
"Is he truly as bizarre as you claim!" Ao Fei scoffed, his thick arms instinctively gripping the crossed pair of swords on his back. "I only believe in strength, never luck."
Yan Chi Sword, Ying Yu Blade—Ren Bu Jue, Ao Bu Fei!
The so-called Yan Chi Sword and Ying Yu Blade referred to Ao Fei’s renowned signature techniques! The Eagle Blade Style in his left hand, the Swallow Sword Style in his right—the unparalleled skill of Eagle and Swallow!
Ren Bu Jue! Ao Bu Fei! referred to Ao Fei's ruthless and brutal nature! Under his blade and sword, there were never any survivors!
No one dared to doubt Ao Fei's strength!
Wielding the Eagle and Swallow blades, Ao Fei had defeated countless top-tier experts, ultimately becoming the undisputed foremost master of the Snow Domain Continent!
In his eyes, strength was everything; luck was merely a nebulous, unpredictable illusion!
Only the weak believed in luck! The strong needed no fortune, only power!
"All the good luck in the world won't feed you," Feng Fei also said dismissively, fiddling with the unusually large longbow in her hands.
It was an ancient-looking bow, resembling a soaring, fiery phoenix! It pulsed with a strange energy that caused hearts to palpitate!
Feng Ming Bow! Dragon Roar Arrow! Feng Fei appears! Yama sees!
This referred to Feng Fei’s famed signature technique!
The Feng Ming Bow was a divine artifact left over from the ancient era, containing astonishing and terrifying power!
Accompanying the Feng Ming Bow were the Dragon Roar Arrows, also relics from that age! There were seven in total!
Legend claimed Feng Fei's miraculous archery could pierce a city gate from a thousand meters away!
In terms of attack power, Feng Fei’s Feng Ming Bow and Dragon Roar Arrows were undoubtedly the strongest on the continent!
This also made the woman from the White Mist Tribe exceedingly arrogant.
Feng Fei and Ao Fei, though self-assured, held little respect for Moluo Yinfeng's cautious attitude. They clearly thought Moluo Yinfeng and Yue Che had been beaten into fear!
However, driven by the inherent competitive spirit of a warrior, Feng Fei was still eager to see what kind of figure Jiuyao Shenzhen truly was!
Yet, despite their arrogance, Ao Fei and Feng Fei were very clear on Yue Che's strength!
Among the Seven Great Spirit Bead masters, though rankings existed, the gap in power between the five established experts wasn't vast, only slightly less so for the two younger rising stars, Youyue and Suiyun.
To make Yue Che so wary indicated that the opponent's strength must far exceed their own imagination!
This was why Ao Fei and Feng Fei agreed to join forces against the enemy! It was practically unimaginable in the past!
The number one, number two, and number four ranked masters of the Snow Domain Continent! Plus over thirty top-tier experts of the Saint Domain Heaven rank, and more than thirty elite warriors like Moluo Yinfeng from the Mafa Continent, all arrayed against this mysterious, unseen master!
And the reason Moluo Yinfeng was so insistent wasn't merely the opponent’s terrifying strength, but that near-cursed luck!
Time slipped by second by second!
Not a single cloud marred the sky; it was a panorama of clear blue! Yet, the entire expanse felt shrouded in an invisible heaviness and oppression! The whole world seemed frozen, making even breathing feel difficult! This familiar sensation involuntarily sent a wave of chilling dread through Moluo Yinfeng!
"He's here!" Yue Che’s expression also shifted subtly, his grim gaze cutting like a sharp sword through the dense forest, finally locking onto a small hillock not far away.
"Truly a worthy opponent," a strange light flashed across Ao Fei’s usually placid face!
The killing intent was faint, yet it carried an inexpressible aura of bleak desolation and ice, as if emanating directly from the bone! It stirred the most fragile nerves deep within everyone’s hearts!
The other warriors, already standing by, drew their weapons!
"He's finally here?" Feng Fei gripped her Feng Ming Bow tightly.
"Everyone, be cautious!" Moluo Yinfeng shouted again. "His speed is immense; we absolutely cannot lose our formation."
Everyone involuntarily took a deep breath! Silently awaiting the impending slaughter.
In the heavy stillness, a light breeze stirred! Bringing with it an increasingly dense chill.
On the distant hillside, a colossal white shadow slowly materialized.
One man! One spear! One steed! Slightly blurred! Yet, it was like an invisible black hole, drawing the gaze of everyone present! And imparting a sense of suffocating pressure and terror!
"That is Jiuyao Shenzhen."
"And that mount, the Great Mammoth King."
Many couldn't help but gasp.
"Stomp! Stomp!"
As the colossal white shadow drew nearer, everyone could finally see clearly! It was a monstrous beast with a ferocious countenance, its massive limbs supporting an incomparably powerful, snow-white body, delivering an overwhelming shock and impact! And upon the beast’s back sat a knight clad in brown armor! His entire body was enveloped by the unique Phoenix Sky Guard Qi characteristic of the Phoenix Sky Demon Armor! Making it impossible to discern his features! The only thing perceivable were those eyes, burning like scorching flames!
Man and beast advanced gradually! The killing aura intensified! It felt as if a colossal stone lay upon everyone’s chest, making it almost impossible to draw breath.
The approaching image grew closer, yet its form became increasingly indistinct! As if this man and his mount had transformed into demonic, evil spirits, dancing and flickering in the pale green flames of hell. Heavy gasps! Emitted from the beast’s low, long breaths! And those slow footsteps were like invisible heavy hammers, striking hard against the chests of the assembled warriors!
"What powerful presence," Ao Fei’s formerly cold, grim eyes instantly blazed with fervor!
"It seems he won't disappoint us," Feng Fei equally could not conceal her excitement and tension!
"Kaka-ka"
A strange sound of a drawn bowstring echoed!
Feng Fei had already nocked a Dragon Roar Arrow—rarely used—onto her Feng Ming Bow, drawing it back to full tension, aimed squarely at the slowly approaching man and steed.
"Hmph! Finally, I can wash away this shame!" Yue Che gripped his thick Dragon Spear tightly! Even now, recalling the phantom-like, terrifying power of the Dragon Shadows, Yue Che couldn't help a slight, shivering tremor! Sweat uncontrollably streamed down his cheeks to his chin! But now was the perfect chance to kill him! This motivated and spurred Yue Che on! The astonishing surge of killing intent even made Moluo Yinfeng, standing beside him, secretly alarmed! It was easy to imagine the profound psychological trauma Yue Che suffered after being defeated by Jiuyao Shenzhen! Perhaps only he and Yue Che could truly empathize with this feeling of being haunted like a vengeful ghost!
Yue Che, Ao Fei, and Feng Fei were the main thrust of this decisive battle! Moluo Yinfeng and the three other masters from the Blood Mist, White Mist, and Frost Tribes would serve as support! Though these four did not possess Spirit Pearls, they were still exceptionally powerful masters!
Aoyou! The strongest master of the Blood Mist Tribe besides Ao Fei, powerfully built and burly; his only weapon was his pair of iron fists! In terms of striking skills, no one on the continent could match him! Feng Wu! A master of the White Mist Tribe and Feng Fei’s younger sister; her weapon was a long, thick dragon-tail whip! Yue Kong! The strongest master of the Frost Tribe besides Yue Che, Yue Che’s younger brother; his weapon was a pair of specially made Rakshasa Battle Axes!
At this moment, Moluo Yinfeng and these three formed another peculiar, small phalanx! Prior to this, everyone had undergone detailed coordinated training to counter Jiuyao Shenzhen! Although it wasn't perfectly seamless, they had achieved a certain level of synergy! No matter what, Jiuyao Shenzhen absolutely must not return alive this time!
Perhaps if it were just pure spearplay or swordsmanship, Jiuyao Shenzhen, though strong, might not necessitate so many people or such an elaborate formation! But the Great Mammoth King, coupled with the nine elusive Dragon Shadows from the Dragon Spear—these two elements combined made Jiuyao Shenzhen's effective strength multiply several times over! The Great Mammoth King’s astonishing speed! Its crushing impact! The nine unpredictable, mutated Dragon Shadows, combined with Jiuyao Shenzhen's own terrifying cultivation base! This made Jiuyao Shenzhen at this moment an absolutely terrifying master in mass combat!
Everyone calmed their breath and stared fixedly at the one man and one steed slowly approaching! Finally, the monstrous beast with the savage face halted at fifty meters away, standing firm!
"Hand over Yue Che!" The roar, shattering stone and piercing metal, exploded like a thunderclap, causing spots of gold to flash before everyone's eyes! Their heads swam, almost going completely numb!