After hiding behind the rubble of a building, Yu Shangrong and Yu Zhenghai hid their auras.
"The Primary Return Pill," Yu Shangrong said as he tossed a pill to Yu Zhenghai.
The Primary Return Pill was something that Si Wuya asked the geniuses from the Sky Research Court to develop. Its only purpose was to restrain and hide one's aura and the Great Void energy.
After taking the pills, the duo who lacked auras now was as unassuming as the weed in the ruins.
Meanwhile, the three cultivators holding long halberds who had just appeared from the runic passage looked to the left and the right as they stood in a triangular formation. The captain stood at the lead while the other two stood at the back.
The trio carefully surveyed the dark and damp surroundings.
After a long while, the captain said, "We've lost the Birth Chart Beast.."
"Captain, I'll go investigate…" one of the blackguards said before he flew close to where Yu Zhenghai and Yu Shangrong were hiding.
Upon seeing this, Yu Shangrong brought the life heart out and looked at it with a thoughtful expression on his face. 'Should I throw it out or not?'
Yu Zhenghai looked at the life heart as well. He could not help but feel that the life heart was like a hot potato now.
Although the duo was confident and strong, they were not foolish enough to fight the three blackguards.
In the end, Yu Shangrong did not throw the life heart out. Instead, he returned it to the pocket near his chest.
Upon seeing this, Yu Zhenghai nodded.
Not long after, the blackguard that flew out returned. "Captain, after investigating, I found that the Birth Chart Beast has been killed. Apart from that, ten low-level cultivators from foreign tribes are dead as well."
The captain of these blackguards lifted his head and looked at the sky. Despite the dark sky, he could still roughly guess the time based on it. The muted sun that was covered by the dark clouds was slightly inclined to the west. After a moment, he said, "The stone forest formation's alert just sounded not too long ago. The person who killed the Birth Chart Beast and the ten cultivators shouldn't have gone too far."
One of the blackguards said, "However, if it was an expert, I'm afraid he or she would have gone far away by now."
The captain did not reply.
"Captain, do you want to investigate?"
"No need. It's getting more and more difficult to monopolize the Birth Chart Beasts in the red lotus domain. Don't forget that Lord Wu is dead…"
The two blackguards nodded.
The captain walked toward the stone forest formation instead of returning to the runic passage. His two subordinates quickly followed suit as well.
Yu Shangrong tilted his body slightly as he watched the three blackguards through a crack between the rubble. He was puzzled and wary; since the Birth Chart Beast was dead, why did they enter the stone forest formation?
After entering the formation, the blackguards stood in different positions.
Subsequently, they stabbed their long halberds into the ground.
In just a moment, the inscriptions and the stone pillars lit up as energy buzzed.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Soon enough, a blurry mountain-like shadow appeared at the edge of the ruins.
Yu Shangrong, who was highly experienced, could tell in an instant that it was the sound of footsteps. The footsteps were something faster than those of a horse and sometimes slow; sometimes they were light and sometimes they were heavy.
Yu Shangrong and Yu Zhenghai focused their eyes at the end of the ruins.
As time passed, the shadow grew more and more distinct. It did not seem like much from a distance, but as it drew closer, a frown appeared on the duo's faces.
The shadow was hundreds of feet tall, and its eyes shone with a dim light.
"What is this?" Yu Shangrong asked through voice transmission.
Yu Zhenghai replied solemnly, "This beast is 700 to 800 feet long and is 300 feet tall. Its fur is full, and its eyes are as bright as the Moon. It is very similar to a wild cat, and its Primal Qi is abnormally strong. It has to be a intermediate Birth Chart Beast, at least."
"So what kind of Birth Chart Beast is this?" Yu Shangrong asked.
"I don't know," Yu Zhenghai replied.
"…"
"If Seventh Junior Brother were here, he'd be able to identify it."
When the Birth Chart Beast flew past the ruins and drew close to the stone forest formation, the three blackguards shot up into the air immediately.
The captain looked at the cat-like Birth Chart Beast and nodded in satisfaction. "Our luck is not bad. This beast is called Liang Qu and is an incredibly rare intermediate Birth Chart Beast. Activate the formation flags now. Try to take it down in the shortest time possible."
"Understood," the two blackguards replied in unison.
Buzz!
The long halberds that doubled as formation flags buzzed loudly before they grew to 1,000 feet tall, turning into the Eight Desolate and Six Harmony Flags. They made an ear-piercing crackling noise when they appeared.
Meanwhile, Liang Qu's eyes glinted. It seemed to know it was in danger and immediately turned to flee.
"Evil creature! You want to run?"
Hundreds of tentacle-like black energies shot out of the stone formation and restrained the cat-like beast's legs.
Liang Qu roared as it trashed around to free itself.
Yu Zhenghai and Yu Shangrong who were looking at the rampaging Liang Qu were taken aback by its speed. It looked like a blur of shadow as it trashed back and forth, stirring up the dust.
Yu Shangrong said in shock, "Its speed is almost comparable to master's speed!"
"Indeed."
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The formation flags in the sky shot out energy swords after energy swords at Liang Qu. They landed on it before they vanished.
Liang Qu grew even more frenetic as the energy swords left marks on its body, causing its fur to fall off. It was clearly infuriated. It seemed to have discarded its intention to flee as it suddenly pounced toward the three blackguards.
Swoosh!
Alas, it had only leaped 50 meters up in the air when hundreds of tentacle-like black energy pulled it down.
Boom!
Liang Qu crashed heavily on the ground.
It seemed like the stone forest formation was very strong. When Yu Shanrong broke the stone formation back then, he only felt the formation was a little complicated and did not think much of it. However, at this moment, he began to feel he might have underestimated it."
At this moment, the captain of the blackguards said in a deep voice, "Do it!"
The trio surrounded Liang Qu in just a blink of an eye and brandished their long halberds. Along with the Eight Desolate and Six Harmony Flags, they dealt heavy blows to Liang Qu.
Although Liang Qu was big and astonishingly fast, its four legs had been restrained. Therefore, it could only be beaten up by the three blackguards even if it tried its best to dodge to the left and the right. It was unfortunate that the blackguards' large-scale attacks were powerful and covered a wide range.
…
At this point, Lu Zhou finally decided to stop observing. Watching them trying to kill Liang Qu was rather boring. He activated the Purple Glazed Ceramic to recover his supreme mystic power and decided to observe his disciples later.
…
Back in the ruins of the former capital of the Southern Kingdom.
The three blackguards continued their assault for more than two hours before Liang Qu, whose body was riddled with wounds, weakened.
"Captain, it's at the end of its life!" one of the blackguards said in delight.
The trio was overjoyed when they saw Liang Qu weakening.
The captain nodded in satisfaction as he said, "Brothers, let's put in more effort!"
"Understood."
While the captain took a step back to look at the flag formation, his two subordinates continued to attack Liang Qu.
Just like that, another hour passed.
At this moment, Liang Qu let out a mournful cry before it slumped to the ground lifelessly.
"Captain, It's dead!"
The captain nodded. "Well done!"
"It's our duty! I wonder what kind of reward we'll receive from the elders this time!"
The two blackguards were clearly excited.
Alas, the captain's words felt like a bucket of ice water that was poured down their heads.
"Brothers, the internal strife in the Black Tower Council is so bad now. Even if we hand over the life heart, at most, we'd be given some high-grade pills or weapons. Even then, the pills and weapons' uses are probably to help us catch more Birth Chart Beasts…"
"Captain, what do you mean?"
"If the Black Tower Council wants to fight among themselves, let them fight. I think this life heart is very suitable for me. What do you think?" With these words, it was clear the captain wanted to keep the life heart for himself.
"This…"
The other two blackguards were shocked.
"Captain, if you do something that opposes the Black Tower Council, the consequences might not be something you can bear."
The captain said, "If I use this life heart, I'll be a Five Chart cultivator. If you agree to my request, I guarantee you'll be able to eat and drink to your hearts' content. We'll never have to return to the Black Tower Council to be bullied by those people!"
The expressions of the two blackguards were rather unsightly at this moment. Since the moment they joined the Black Tower Council, the rules had been heavily branded in their minds. In order to prevent betrayals, an extermination team led by the four judges was specially created to severely punish those who betrayed the council. The four judges that led the team all had at least eight Birth Charts. Each and every person who betrayed the Black Tower Council in the past were sentenced to death by the extermination team.
"Brothers, are you unwilling?" the captain asked.
"It's not that. If… If the judges come after us, the consequences will be… deadly."
"Wealth and honor come with risk and danger. In any case, it's up to you to decide. I won't force you," the captain said before he moved forward and retrieved Liang Qu's life heart.
The two blackguards were dumbfounded upon seeing this. Without the life heart, what explanation should they give to the Black Tower Council? They shook their heads. After considering the recent state of the council, they could only say, "I supposed this is the only way…"
"Good brothers!" The captain was overjoyed when he heard his two subordinates' words. Then, without any warning, his voice turned deep as he said, "Come out. What need is there for you to hide?"
