Chapter Ninety-Eight: Hunted from All Sides

"It vanished!"

"How is that possible? A mere Spirit Qi Realm martial artist actually managed to take the Azure Crystal Lotus from under my nose without making a sound. So the rumor that he inherited the legacy of a human elder was true."

Staring at Luo Hao, who had vanished so abruptly, the wormlike scar on Dian Qingtang’s face twisted sharply, his eyes blazing with fervor.

"Notify the disciples under our command. Search the mountains from end to end. We must capture this man!" Dian Qingtang said, his gaze narrowing slightly. Then his figure disappeared above Star Lake.

Bang!

Spiritual power flared through the forest. Sensing the aura of the Azure Crystal Lotus vanish, the Black Flood Dragon King suddenly spat out a beam of ice-blue light, forcing Elder Qingyang back. Then he whirled around and shot off in pursuit of the direction Dian Qingtang had just left.

Hum.

The jade mirror trembled, releasing a faint halo as lines of subtle inscriptions emerged.

The ancient mirror instantly became like a blazing divine sun, melting the surrounding void. The ice-blue light that had shot toward it turned into a wisp of smoke and vanished beneath that divine radiance.

Whoosh!

Putting away the jade mirror, Elder Qingyang glanced at the distant figure of the Black Flood Dragon King. After a brief hesitation, he too vanished from where he stood.

"Little Youyu, Grandfather has some important matters to handle now. Stay here and wait for me to return."

When Dian Qingtang had left just now, he had casually returned the unconscious girl in white to the silver-haired old man. Clearly, it was unwise to offend an unknown powerhouse for no reason at all.

By then, the girl in white had already been awakened by the silver-haired elder, though she had not lost all memory of what had just happened.

"Grandfather, I’ll be fine on my own. Go ahead."

The girl in white was not weak; so long as no warrior as powerful as that one made a move, she could absolutely protect herself.

At that, the silver-haired elder finally felt somewhat reassured. Still, he gently touched the girl’s forehead, and then his figure disappeared without warning.

After the silver-haired elder also departed, Duan Yixiao, who had been concealing himself in the ancient woods at a distance and watching the situation, slowly emerged from the wild forest.

After casting a glance at the girl in white, he did not follow after the silver-haired elder and the others. Instead, he took to the air and headed out of the Tiancang Mountains.

High in the sky, Duan Yixiao wore a bitter expression. Even if he knew the Azure Crystal Lotus might be a medicine king, so what?

Compared with the Ten Peaks Spirit Academy, the Ten Thousand Demons Sect, the Western Ridge Highlands, the Heavenly Sea Sect, and the other powers, the academy still lagged far behind in top-tier combat strength.

Even if they were lucky enough to seize the Azure Crystal Lotus, it would likely bring down an even greater calamity. One had to say, this was the sorrow of the weak.

"Hm?"

Duan Yixiao, who had been flying through the air, suddenly stopped. Down below in the ancient forest, he did not know when, but a large number of human martial artists had poured in. Their cultivation levels varied widely, from the Spirit Qi Realm to the Blood Condensation Realm.

"Did you hear? Luo Hao is still alive, and he has obtained the inheritance of a human predecessor!"

"Hmph. Damn it, a mere ant in the Spirit Qi Realm dares to possess a senior’s inheritance? Ridiculous. We must make him hand it over."

"Exactly. He isn’t worthy!"

"How could a butcher of our human brothers and sisters inherit the legacy of a human elder?"

...

Listening to the waves of ridicule and denunciation rising from the woods below, Duan Yixiao calmly shook his head. At the same time, he understood why these human martial artists had surged en masse into the Tiancang Mountains.

As the countless human warriors flooded into the mountains and frantically searched for Luo Hao, a void ten miles away from Star Lake suddenly tore open. Then a mass of black energy fell straight from the spatial rift to the ground.

Boom!

Wrapped in black dragon power, Luo Hao crashed heavily into the earth, blasting out a deep pit. The thunderous impact startled birds and beasts into scattering in all directions.

In the crater, Luo Hao’s hair was disheveled, his body grievously weak. Large portions of his flesh had been torn apart, blood covering him from head to toe, as though he had just been hauled out of a pool of blood.

"Cough, cough, cough!"

Amid continuous bouts of coughing up blood, fresh blood kept spilling from Luo Hao’s mouth. Yet in his hand, he clutched a glowing Azure Crystal Lotus with two leaves and five petals.

The moment he had seized the lotus, Luo Hao had already regained consciousness. As for the extremely evil force within his body, thirsting for slaughter, it seemed to have been suppressed by the Azure Crystal Lotus.

With great difficulty, he looked at the lotus in his hand, and a trace of relief flashed through his heart. At the same time, he felt somewhat puzzled. It seemed that as long as this Azure Crystal Lotus remained in his grasp, the violently evil power in his mind would be restrained.

"I never expected the Azure Crystal Lotus to possess such miraculous power. I cannot remain here. I have to leave at once."

Relying on the lotus to temporarily suppress the evil force within him, Luo Hao dragged his wounded body and plunged once more into the wild forest of the Tiancang Mountains.

In truth, the Dragon-Demon power in Luo Hao’s body had not been subdued by the Azure Crystal Lotus itself. Let alone this lotus being only a half-step medicine king; even a true medicine king would not be able to suppress Dragon-Demon power.

What truly restrained it was the faint strand of Azure Heaven Blood contained within the Azure Crystal Lotus. Azure Heaven Blood originated from the Blood Dao, and the Blood Dao was the supreme path created by the Human King of Azure Expanse, a mighty being who once shook an entire era.

The dignity of the Great Dao could not be violated; beneath the Great Dao, all were merely ants. Of course, Luo Hao’s Dragon-Demon power had only just awakened. Legends said that the dragon-demon was the only supreme devil capable of standing shoulder to shoulder with the Seven Fiend True Devil.

"Damn it. A wounded martial artist in the Spirit Qi Realm actually managed to run this far. Whether it is the Azure Crystal Lotus or the inheritance, my Ten Thousand Demons Sect will have them."

Not long after Luo Hao left, ripples spread through the void, and Dian Qingtang’s towering figure revealed itself. His eyes were dark and heavy, and then his body vanished once again from where he stood.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

After Dian Qingtang left, several more gusting sounds rang out. The Black Flood Dragon King, Elder Qingyang, and the silver-haired elder all appeared here in turn, only to leave again at great speed.

"Hm!"

Suddenly, Luo Hao, moving through the forest, felt his heart sink. The reason was simple: he sensed that many unfamiliar auras had suddenly appeared in the woods of the Tiancang Mountains.

"Luo Hao!"

A sudden roar exploded behind him. Luo Hao spun around sharply, a trace of ferocity flashing through his eyes.

Not far away, less than ten yards from him, two martial artists were staring at Luo Hao with naked greed. And seeing Luo Hao covered in blood, his aura unstable, their greed became even more obvious.

"Hand over the inheritance, and we can make your death a quick one."

One of the two, a young martial artist, subconsciously licked his lips before speaking in a low voice.

The moment those words left his mouth, Luo Hao’s expression turned cold, and he immediately understood the situation.

These unfamiliar auras that had suddenly appeared in the Tiancang Mountains were certainly all here for the Mountain and River Seal left behind by Senior Wan Qian. It must have been those fleeing human martial artists who spread the news that he was still alive.

Seeing that Luo Hao remained silent, the two young martial artists assumed he was too badly injured to fight again. The pair advanced toward him while remaining secretly wary.

According to rumor, Luo Hao, who was only at the eighth level of the Spirit Qi Realm, possessed enough strength to battle a mid-stage Blood Condensation Realm expert. Though the two were not weak, they still did not dare be careless in front of Luo Hao.

Clang!

Just as they drew within two yards of him, Luo Hao, who had been silent all this time, suddenly lifted his head. His normally clear eyes instantly turned pitch-black.

The Dragon-Demon power, which had already been temporarily suppressed by Azure Heaven Blood, surged forth once more like a flood bursting through a dam, utterly unstoppable.

Roar!

Along with a furious bellow, an eternal sea of demons engulfed the two human martial artists before they could even react.

Within that sea of demons, Luo Hao, who had seemed still a moment ago, was now like a peerless beast awakened from slumber. A bone-chilling aura of slaughter instantly sent the two men plunging into a hell of knives and mountains of blades.

Their scalps went numb. Such a soul-freezing murderous intent was not something a human could possess. The figure before them was clearly a vengeful specter from an ice-cold abyss.

"Kill!"

Within the dark, sunless sea of demons, a killing cry burst forth. Countless raging demonic dragons roared in the depths, and a fist wrapped in black dragon power slammed down from the demon sea. Each strand of black dragon power weighed like a mountain, bending the void itself into distortion.

"No!"

The two human martial artists were horrified and retreated wildly, but beneath the black Dragon-Demon power, Luo Hao was faster than they were. He stepped forward like a demonic dragon lunging ahead, and the black fist crushed down again.

Puff! Puff!

Two clouds of blood exploded in the void, and a spray of crimson mist scattered through the air, dyeing the vegetation in the forest red.

After that ferocious strike, the Dragon-Demon power around Luo Hao’s body collapsed with a boom. He coughed up a mouthful of blood, and the color drained completely from his face.

"The spiritual energy fluctuation came from over there. Go take a look. Maybe it’s Luo Hao."

"We must catch him!"

Luo Hao’s face was pale as paper, but when he heard voices from the other side of the woods, the savage light in his eyes flashed once more.

Hum.

The Azure Crystal Lotus in his chest suddenly trembled slightly, releasing a wisp of gentle jade-green light that merged into Luo Hao’s body. In an instant, his mind cleared, and the murderous intent boiling in his chest gradually subsided.

He did not dare linger. Luo Hao turned in the opposite direction and quickly vanished into the woods.