“When I handed you the pill just now, I had already swapped it,” Xi Yucheng replied.
Lin Xiao was startled. He had not even noticed. Xi Yucheng’s sleight of hand was truly swift.
“You kept the storage ring for yourself, but the pill condensed from a Ninth-Layer Martial Emperor is gone,” Lin Xiao said with a touch of reproach.
“I really didn’t have time to swap that one…” Xi Yucheng’s slightly embarrassed voice came through. “We don’t even know exactly what this thing does. Once we’re out, I’ll compensate you with a pill condensed from an Eighth-Layer Martial Emperor.”
Lin Xiao felt secretly delighted, yet he still asked in surprise, “Just how many Eighth-Layer Martial Emperors have you killed?”
“Secret.” Xi Yucheng’s voice carried a hint of awkwardness and he said no more.
“Could the Eighth-Layer Martial Emperors from the Azure Dragon Sect have been killed by him?” Lin Xiao wondered to himself.
Still, he did not dwell on it too much. After all, only Long Tutian belonged to the Azure Dragon Sect, not the sect Lin Xiao himself was part of.
Moreover, they might not all have been from Long Tutian’s faction.
Truth be told, the Azure Dragon Sect had nothing to do with him at all.
In a place full of opportunities and dangers like this, casualties were perfectly normal.
Speaking up for the Azure Dragon Sect once could already be considered giving them a great deal of face.
The battle continued for a long time afterwards. The slaughter was extremely fierce.
If any outsider were to witness it, they would surely be utterly shocked.
Everyone fighting inside looked exactly the same. Two or three hundred identical-looking people locked in chaotic melee was a scene of utter confusion. Many could not even tell friend from foe, and they had no idea who had injured them.
When someone died, they did not even know who had delivered the killing blow.
Among them, quite a few of those ugly middle-aged men had failed to condense into human pills.
When the number of people inside the ancient city had dwindled to just over a hundred, a loud “boom!” suddenly rang out. The city gate swung fully open.
“The gate is open!” someone shouted in shock. All fighting immediately ceased. Every gaze turned towards the city entrance.
Yet they paused for a good while. No one dared to be the first to try, even though they all believed that with the gate now completely open, they could leave.
“Whoosh!” At that moment, someone near the gate threw a gravely wounded person towards the entrance.
The injured man flew straight out, appeared beyond the gate, stared blankly ahead for a moment, then looked back.
“We can get out!”
One figure after another shot outwards at top speed.
The people from Sacred Heaven Sect and Azure Dragon Sect also surged out.
Taking advantage of everyone rushing outwards with all their might, Lin Xiao instantly changed into a set of grey robes, stored the Purple Corpse Puppet back into his storage ring, then followed and blasted out as well.
“Whoosh!”
The instant he rushed through the gate, the night sky and moonlight completely vanished, replaced by blinding sunlight.
The surroundings were no longer the area outside the ancient city from before. Instead, they stood before the grand entrance to a vast complex of courtyards.
Beautiful scenery stretched in all directions: willow catkins drifted gently, lush green grass spread endlessly, birdsong echoed sweetly, and rich spiritual energy of heaven and earth filled the air. It was a picture of perfect harmony.
Yet this scenery merely registered in everyone’s eyes in passing. All gazes were fixed in shock upon what lay ahead.
Because ahead stood a large group of people. Behind them was the plaque above the entrance to the vast courtyard complex.
The plaque bore the boldly carved words “Ji Family Fiftieth Division”.
In other words, they had emerged from the Domain of Evil? And appeared right at the entrance to a division of the Ji family?
Moreover, several hundred members of the Ji family were already poised and waiting?
Lin Xiao could not help glancing back. A gate that had been eighty to ninety percent illusory had just vanished into thin air.
In the distance, the sky was clear for thousands of miles, lush vegetation thrived, and roads criss-crossed the landscape.
Now Lin Xiao was certain: that Domain of Evil had definitely been another separate space, just like the Mysterious Domain. After leaving the ancient city, they had appeared directly here.
And it just happened to be a division of the Ji family.
With such a huge commotion, it would be strange if it did not draw out every expert from this Ji family division.
Lin Xiao’s face twitched involuntarily.
They had just wiped out the Ji family members inside to eliminate the threat of the Ninth-Layer Martial Emperor.
They had thought they were finally free of the Ji family’s menace, only to appear right at the entrance to one of their divisions…
Lin Xiao instantly felt the urge to flee at once.
But he did not act rashly, lest he invite attack.
Everyone else felt the same.
The moment they saw “Ji Family Fiftieth Division”, they nearly scattered in all directions.
Yet they held back, fearing it would provoke pursuit.
As had been said earlier, if the sky fell, the people from Sacred Heaven Sect and Azure Dragon Sect would hold it up.
“What on earth is going on here?” At that moment, an elder standing in the centre of the group ahead asked in astonishment.
A faint yet unmistakable aura emanated from him. His cultivation had actually reached the Ninth-Layer Martial Emperor realm.
This elder was a Ninth-Layer Martial Emperor expert!
Everyone’s expressions immediately turned grave. No one answered right away.
They all exchanged glances.
Because at this point, everyone’s faces had already returned to normal, and they were scanning one another.
Some even hoped that the person who had previously impersonated a Sacred Heaven Sect member would step forward and speak to help them through this crisis.
But after waiting a while and hearing nothing, they knew that person must be staying hidden.
If recognised, they would surely face vengeance from both Sacred Heaven Sect and Azure Dragon Sect.
In the end, everyone’s gazes turned towards the people from Azure Dragon Sect and Sacred Heaven Sect.
Now, only the two great sects could save them.
From Azure Dragon Sect, five youths and three middle-aged men remained.
From Sacred Heaven Sect, six youths and four middle-aged men.
Bi Zhuang stepped forward and answered the Ji family’s Ninth-Layer Martial Emperor with complete sincerity, “Elder Ji Juan, after entering the Domain of Evil, we encountered all manner of bizarre dangers: graveyards where corpses would kill the living, forests where dead beasts devoured people, and an unfathomable black tower.”
“Finally, we broke into a strange ancient city. Countless people who all looked exactly the same poured out from the houses and hunted us down everywhere.”
“After fighting our way through layer upon layer of encirclement, our group finally escaped through one of the nine exits.”
Bi Zhuang continued without blushing or skipping a beat, “Who would have thought we would appear here.”
“As for the other elders and disciples from our sects, they scattered and fled through the other exits.”
“Most of the Ji family members who entered the ancient city also escaped, we just don’t know where they ended up.”
The moment Bi Zhuang finished speaking, the hundred-plus survivors who had escaped the ancient city were all stunned.
People who looked identical chasing and killing them, nine exits in total, their sect’s elders and disciples fleeing separately through the other exits, and most of the Ji family members having escaped as well.
This Bi Zhuang really knew how to spin a story.
Moreover, he barely paused to think, spoke with utter sincerity, and made it sound completely true.
In the hearts of those hundred-plus people, they all secretly gave Bi Zhuang a big thumbs-up, filled with admiration.
These great powers truly had all kinds of talent.
