Once the skeleton centurion died, the remaining skeleton soldiers were no match at all. They were swiftly cut down by the personal guards.
When this half-step Yin-Yang realm expert turned back to look for Prince Jiumo Zhiyan, he realised he had fallen for a diversionary tactic.
All the personal guards around Jiumo Zhiyan had been killed.
That already explained the problem.
“Ah!”
The half-step Yin-Yang realm expert roared at the sky, trying to vent the fury in his chest. But no matter how he roared, the little prince Jiumo Zhiyan was definitely not coming back.
“Search! Split up and search! If you cannot find the little prince, none of you need to return!”
In his rage, the half-step Yin-Yang realm expert could only take out his anger on his subordinates.
Then he himself shot into the air and left.
If the little prince could not be found, Mutu would certainly kill him. There was no need to think about that.
A full quarter of an hour after he departed, Ling Xiao’s weakened figure finally emerged from a nearby patch of grass, along with Jiumo Zhiyan who was completely restrained.
“Do not worry, little prince. I will not kill you, but you must tell me what connection you have with the Divine Phoenix Empire.”
Ling Xiao stared coldly at Jiumo Zhiyan. His soul force suddenly surged out, slamming into Jiumo Zhiyan’s spirit sea.
Jiumo Zhiyan had his heavenly essence force and soul force sealed, so he had no ability to resist. He was easily controlled by Ling Xiao.
“Speak. Tell me everything you know!”
Jiumo Zhiyan looked at Ling Xiao with dull eyes and said, “This war was originally a deal between my master and your Divine Phoenix Emperor. The purpose was naturally to eliminate Ji Ning’s Northern Desert Army, Lü Chenglong’s Imperial City Camp, and of course you!”
“Heh, he thinks highly of me, actually putting me on the same level as Ji Ning’s Northern Desert Army and Lü Chenglong’s Imperial City Camp.”
Ling Xiao wanted to laugh, but he could not. His voice was dry, bitter.
The worst-case scenario had still happened. Tens of thousands of soldiers, hundreds of thousands of troops and civilians had been treated like idiots and toyed with.
In the eyes of those high and mighty people, they were nothing more than dispensable pawns!
But fortunately, Ling Xiao had desperately turned the tide of this chess game. Although it was not perfect, Ji Ning, Lü Chenglong, and Feng Qingyan had all survived. The Northern Desert Army had retained most of its strength, and the common people had suffered few casualties.
The only pity was those more than seventy thousand Imperial City Camp soldiers.
They were loyal to the emperor and patriotic, coming to the front line with burning passion to kill the enemy, yet they did not know they were merely discarded pieces.
Just because those lofty figures wanted Lü Chenglong, Ji Ning, Feng Qingyan, and Ling Xiao dead.
“You want us dead, you want us to grieve. Well, I, Ling Xiao, will never let you have your way! Just wait and see!”
Ling Xiao gritted his teeth.
Northern Desert City would stand tall once more, and it would become even stronger.
Those behind-the-scenes manipulators, he would settle accounts with them one by one.
Whether it was Sikong Zun, Bian Tianxing, or the Emperor!
They all had to die!
To pay with their lives for those soldiers who died on the battlefield!
He struggled to his feet, trapped Jiumo Zhiyan inside the beast ring, then placed the beast ring into the Mountain-River World.
Because he felt he could no longer hold on.
In fact, after fighting those eight personal guards, he had already been severely injured. Logically, he should have received treatment.
Unfortunately, in order to capture Jiumo Zhiyan alive, not only had he failed to get timely treatment, he had even risked joining another battle.
At this moment, he finally could not hold on any longer.
So everything that needed to be prepared, he prepared.
He found a concealed spot to hide, then finally lost consciousness and collapsed.
Die Nu did not enter the Mountain-River World, nor did she stay inside the beast ring. She hid near Ling Xiao. Although she could not heal wounds or move Ling Xiao, protecting him from being eaten by wild beasts or killed by enemies was still within her ability.
…
The sky was clear and blue, the blazing sun like fire.
In the dense grass, Ling Xiao slowly opened his eyes.
After sleeping, his injuries had surprisingly healed completely. Not only that, his cultivation had also broken through.
Seven Star Heaven cultivation!
That was his current realm!
Moreover, he had finally mastered the fifth step ultimate technique of the Light-Shadow Profound Truth.
And all of this had actually been achieved in a dream. If he told anyone, they would surely be astonished.
He looked up at the sky. Although it was hot, Ling Xiao’s mood was quite good.
He had captured Jiumo Zhiyan alive, and his cultivation had broken through.
His injuries had left no lingering effects.
“It is time to go back.”
Looking towards the direction of Northern Desert City, Ling Xiao planned to hurry back as quickly as possible. The fundamental reason he had come out to hunt Jiumo Zhiyan this time was to rescue Ji Ning and the others.
Whether it helped or not, returning was imperative.
However, he had chased too quickly on the way here, focusing only on locking onto Jiumo Zhiyan’s aura, so he had not remembered the route at all. Now he could only run back in a rough direction.
Fortunately, he was a martial artist. Even if he encountered high mountains, he could simply leap over them. It was no big deal.
“There is a rumour that between the Divine Phoenix Empire and the Black Crow Empire lies a scorpion-people tribe. The Scorpion King leader’s strength is unfathomably deep. Moreover, they are extremely skilled at surviving in the desert, so neither the Divine Phoenix Empire nor the Black Crow Empire wishes to provoke this tribe. I hope I do not run into these scorpion people.”
Ling Xiao was not only someone who loved martial arts, he was also very studious. After arriving in the Divine Phoenix Empire, he had actually read many books.
He was quite familiar with the customs, culture, geography, and landforms of the Divine Phoenix Continent.
In this “Venomous Desert”, apart from some monsters hidden in the sand, the ones that absolutely could not be provoked were the scorpion people.
These scorpion people were not only strong, they were also skilled at controlling poisonous scorpions.
The poisonous scorpions in the desert came in all sizes and were extremely hard to guard against. You might be ambushed while walking or sleeping.
Therefore, if he could avoid provoking them, Ling Xiao absolutely did not want to.
Perhaps he was lucky enough. After travelling for an hour, Ling Xiao had not seen a single scorpion person. He only encountered some desert monsters, which were not enough to threaten him. He even tamed a desert hermit crab.
This desert hermit crab was enormous, fully two storeys tall. Sitting on it felt just like riding a puppet warship. Not only was it very fast, it also avoided a lot of trouble.
Basically, many monsters would not dare come out when they saw this colossal creature.
After travelling a long distance, Ling Xiao felt rather thirsty. When he left, he had given all his water and food to the soldiers and civilians at Northern Desert Pass.
Now he really was unbearably hot.
Although Heaven-Human realm martial artists could go several days without eating, they still needed to drink water.
Unless one reached the Cave Heaven realm, where one could last half a month without food or water, otherwise dry rations and water were essential for secluded cultivation.
This was actually one of the main reasons why storage rings were so important.
