Within the tunnel, rumbling sounds never ceased.
Two Chi Dragons several zhang long fled frantically ahead, their speed so great that they nearly turned into streaks of lightning.
Behind them, a young man clad in blood-coloured battle armour rode upon thunder. His features were cold and stern, his skin fair, his entire body enveloped by three forces: blood aura, dragon aura, and thunder. His long blood-coloured hair fluttered without wind, giving him an extremely demonic appearance.
“Give up struggling!”
“You cannot escape!”
The youth pursued at a leisurely pace, a playful glint in his eyes, as if he were toying with rats that everyone wanted to beat.
He was none other than the Ancestral Realm Chi Dragon.
Because his true form was far too massive, chasing inside the narrow tunnel would actually slow him down considerably, so he had chosen to transform into this spiritual body instead.
His casual words made Mo Fan’s heart tighten, and he instinctively sped up a little more.
This would not do. If things continued like this, that fellow would catch up very soon.
Under the youth’s powerful pressure, Mo Fan felt as though a thick layer of dark clouds had settled over his heart, keeping it perpetually gloomy.
Finally, a gleam flashed in his eyes. He seemed to recall something, opened his mouth, and spat out a piece of jade.
This jade was none other than the token Tu Shan Yunjun had previously given him.
Without the slightest hesitation, Mo Fan crushed the jade and silently thought, “Brother Yunjun, today I am specially delivering you a generous gift. I hope you will not let down my kind intentions!”
The moment the jade shattered, specks of starlight shone from the fragments and gathered into a fox-head mark that instantly attached itself to the back of Mo Fan’s hand.
The sight made Mo Fan frown slightly, but after probing with his divine sense and discovering that the mark had no effect on him and was merely a tracking seal, he relaxed a little.
At the same moment, far away in another tunnel, a white-robed youth covered in blood was cupping his hands in thanks to the three people before him.
“My thanks to the three of you for lending aid. Otherwise, I fear I would have fallen to that fellow today.”
“Brother Xuanyian need not be so courteous. I, Di, said long ago that you are my friend,” replied Di Qin, dressed in black battle robes, with a faint smile. “Since we are friends, how could I stand by when I see you in danger? Besides, I am certain that if Brother Xuanyian saw me in peril one day, you would surely lend a hand as well, yes?”
Xuanyian?
A flicker passed through the white-robed youth’s eyes before he laughed heartily. “Of course!”
“By the way, how did Brother Xuanyian end up provoking that Wu Clan cultivator?” Di Qin asked curiously.
At these words, the white-robed youth’s face instantly darkened. He inwardly cursed a certain someone several times before replying with indignation, “I have no idea. That fellow is simply a madman. It was as if I had stolen his wife; he just kept chasing me relentlessly!”
“A madman, you say?”
Di Qin smiled and actually nodded. “That description suits the Wu Clan cultivators rather well. They are indeed a bunch of lunatics left over from ancient times.”
“It seems Brother Di knows quite a bit about the Wu Clan?”
The white-robed youth was somewhat surprised, but then he recalled Di Qin’s earlier introduction and understood. He asked again, “You said earlier that you come from where, exactly?”
Hearing this, a trace of surprise flashed through Di Qin’s eyes. He carefully studied the Xuanyian before him, then smiled and answered, “I said Da Qin.”
“So this fellow is from the Da Qin imperial clan. No wonder he knows things about the Wu Clan.”
The white-robed youth’s gaze flickered. Then his brow furrowed. With a flip of his hand, an object appeared in his palm.
It was a piece of jade, now covered in cracks.
Seeing this, his frown deepened. Hesitation appeared in his eyes. After standing motionless for a few moments, he placed the cracked jade against his forehead.
The next instant, motes of starlight flew from the cracks and entered his brow, leaving behind a fox-head mark.
“Brother Xuanyian, what is wrong?”
Di Qin spoke at just the right moment, his gaze casually sweeping over the mark on the youth’s forehead while a glint flashed through his eyes.
“One of my friends is in trouble and has called for my help.”
The white-robed youth gave a wry smile, then his eyes spun as he looked at Di Qin and the other two. Somewhat embarrassed, he said, “If the three of you have nothing else pressing, would you be willing to come with me and take a look?”
At these words, the two cultivators wearing bronze battle armour simultaneously turned to the man in the middle, Di Qin.
“Certainly. Since it is a friend of Brother Xuanyian, then naturally he is also a friend of mine, Di Qin!”
Seeing Di Qin nod, the white-robed youth’s expression immediately brightened, and he took the lead ahead.
“Your Highness, this fellow is clearly not Xuanyian. We already saved him once; why help him further?” Yin Hu transmitted in confusion.
“He is indeed not Xuanyian. If I am not mistaken, he should be from the Tu Shan clan. If possible, I very much wish to befriend this demon!”
A smile appeared on Di Qin’s face. In a certain sense, this heavenly fox demon from the Tu Shan clan was far more important to him than Xuanyian ever could be.
The white-robed youth was naturally not Xuanyian; he was Tu Shan Yunjun.
He had originally intended to ignore Mo Fan’s summons, having just been screwed over by that fellow, but when he looked at the three people beside him, his confidence grew considerably, and he decided to go see what was happening.
No matter what, he still bore the Tu Shan name and was a demon of the heavenly fox clan. If he could avoid bringing disgrace to his family, it was best to keep his word.
Guided by the special mark, his speed grew faster and faster. His entire body nearly transformed into a sword light that freely shuttled through the maze-like tunnels.
Yet Di Qin and the other two kept pace behind him without seeming hurried, barely falling behind at all. This shocked Tu Shan Yunjun even more.
Earlier, he had been tangled up by that lunatic Qin Changsheng and nearly died there. At the critical moment, these three had saved him, making him fully aware of how formidable they were.
So in Tu Shan Yunjun’s view, travelling with these three meant having three meat shields if any danger appeared. What a wonderful thing!
As they drew nearer, a series of rumbling explosions suddenly reached their ears, startling all of them. They could not imagine what was happening ahead.
At the same time, Mo Fan, who was being pursued, finally sensed Tu Shan Yunjun’s aura. Joy surged in his heart, and he immediately flew straight towards him.
Yet when he caught sight of Tu Shan Yunjun, he was momentarily stunned. This guy had turned into Xuanyian again!
Knowing full well that Tu Shan Yunjun possessed transformation abilities, Mo Fan did not mistake him this time. He recognised at a glance that this was not Xuanyian but that bastard Tu Shan Yunjun.
What truly surprised Mo Fan, however, was why Di Qin and the other two were mixed up with him.
But seeing Tu Shan Yunjun wearing Xuanyian’s face, he instantly understood.
“Lai Bao?”
Tu Shan Yunjun was also startled when he saw the two Chi Dragons flying towards him, but he quickly noticed the clear fox-head mark on the brow of one of them and immediately realised it was Mo Fan.
“Good brother, you really came!”
Mo Fan grinned at him and shouted loudly, “That guy behind is all yours now. He is covered in treasures; do not let me down!”
With that, Mo Fan brushed straight past Tu Shan Yunjun without pausing and soon vanished from sight.
“What the hell?”
Tu Shan Yunjun looked baffled, but when he saw the terrifying pressure radiating from the pursuing youth behind, his pupils contracted sharply, and he understood everything in an instant.
“Damn you, Lai Bao! You screwed me over again!!”
He turned to look for Di Qin and the other two, only to see ripples in space.
Those three had slipped away even faster than Mo Fan!
Damn it all, every single one of them was a sneaky bastard!
All that talk of brotherhood, yet not one could be relied on when it mattered!
……
