Li Hu was obviously still in the dark. He had no idea what they were talking about. Everyone else, however, wore somber expressions. They just stood there, no one speaking a word.
“We have to hurry back to the academy.” Jiang Yong broke the silence. His eyes glinted with sharp light. “This is no longer a mere mission; this threatens the balance between the Yao, God, and Demon Realms we’ve maintained over ten thousand years.”
“I agree.” Murong Xue nodded, then glanced at the Subterranean Beast corpses scattered around the altar. “We’re quite possibly the first to discover this. However, this is only our hypothesis. We ought to bring the corpses back too and let the academy make a better judgment for themselves.”
The two other top student society leaders had said their piece. Xue Mo fell silent, then glanced at Ye Zichen. “What do you think?”
“I agree with the two society heads.” Ye Zichen nodded. Luo Zi and the two golden flowers started gathering up the corpses. Li Hu stood there, watching in befuddlement. Even now, he couldn’t quite figure out what on earth they were talking about.
“These darn yao! Did they forget who saved them from extinction all those years ago despite the enormous risk? Yet now they’re colluding with demons! Our seniors shouldn’t have saved them.” Jiang Yong clenched his fists, his eyes blazing with uncontrolled anger.
“Don’t say that.” Ye Zichen patted him on the shoulder, then pulled out a cigarette. “Want a smoke?”
“What’s this?” Jiang Yong had obviously never seen one before, but he instinctively took it. Ye Zichen put another cigarette in his own mouth, flicked his fingers to summon a tiny flame, and let it.
“Actually, based on my understanding of the situation, the Yao Realm has split into numerous factions. It’s absolutely not the case that all the yao have become our enemies. Only a small percentage of them are extremists.” Ye Zichen had learned all his from Little White. His clan had split off into factions too.
However, Ye Zichen didn’t know just how divided they were, or what percentage of the yao opposed the God Realm.
Jiang Yong imitated Ye Zichen and took a few puffs of his cigarette as well. As for what Ye Zichen just told him, he took note of it, but didn’t ask for his sources.
This was a matter of basic etiquette. Everyone had their secrets. Ye Zichen had secrets, and so did Jiang Yong.
“Society Head, we gathered them all up.” By the time they finished their cigarettes, Luo Zi, Pan Sheng, and the twin sisters returned to the altar. The surrounding area was completely clean. Nevermind the intact corpses; they’d even gathered up the chunks of meat without leaving so much as a chunk behind.
“Then let’s hurry back,” said Murong Xue.
The others nodded, and Xue Mo summoned their flying boat.
“Wait a moment!” Just as they were about to board, Ye Zichen suddenly whipped around and called them back.
“What is it this time?” asked Xue Mo.
“Something’s rushing right towards us, and it’s causing quite the disturbance.” He narrowed his eyes, and the others focused on their hearing.
Li Hu, who’d been wandering about aimlessly, suddenly pointed and shouted, “It’s right ahead of us!”’
The others looked over and saw a vast horde of black shadows. They stirred up so much debris that the resulting sandstorm blotted out the heavens.
“A group of Subterranean Beasts.” Luo Zi frowned.
“It’s not because we killed their companions, is it? Surely they aren’t here for revenge?” Chen Guangfa’s heart sank, then he shouted, “Well, don’t just stand there! Hurry onto the flying ship!”
“Look, there are people running alongside the beasts,” shrieked Dai Xiaoyu. She pointed, and the others looked over as well.
“There really are people there!” shouted Dai Xiaoyan.
Jiang Yong had already hefted his battleaxe. “They might be soldiers from Barren Sands City. We can just stand back and watch them die.”
With that, Jiang Yong charged right into the swarm. Pan Sheng followed hot on his heels. A few divine stones hovered around his head, ready for use in a spiritual formation.
“That barbarian.” There were quite a few Subterranean Beasts headed right their way, and Murong Xue wanted to come up with a battle plan.
However, since Jiang Yong had already rushed into the fray, she had no choice but to follow him away from the platform despite her irritation. The Dai sisters went with her.
“Waaah, do we really have to keep on fighting and killing like this? Couldn’t we just fly over in our ship and grab them?” Chen Guangfa looked thoroughly exasperated. He was just a small fry who’d only barely reached the sky supreme level. Furthermore, he was his family clan’s first sky supreme ever. His entire family was counting on him. He was keenly aware of the weight on his shoulders, which was why he disliked putting himself in danger.
Last time, they’d had no choice but to fight their way through the beasts encircling the altar, but this time….
“My heavens.” Chen Guangfa let out an exasperated sigh. Just moments ago, Li Hu and Luo Zi rushed off as well. Chen Guangfa felt stuck between a rock and a hard place.
“Guangfa, I know you’re your family’s hope. How about this…? We’ll save them without you. You fly the ship after us, and if we run into danger, you can save us at a moment’s notice.”
Xue Mo flew passed him the ship. Ye Zichen nodded at him as well, then both of them rushed right into the fray.
Chen Guangfa stood there, watching as all his teammates rushed off to rescue those two strangers. Chen Guangfa paced about frantically, like an ant on a frying pan, wracked with inner turmoil.
Whap!
He inexplicably slapped himself so hard, his cheeks went bright red. Next, he bowed deeply to Ye Zichen, but chose not to follow them into peril. Instead, as they suggested, he got into the flying ship, the safest place of all.
He had no choice; he had his whole family clan to support. He was their hope, and he couldn’t afford to risk himself.
“Die for me!” Jiang Yong rushed at the group’s forefront. He was like a human meat grinder as his axe swung about and cut its way through the swarm. His ninth-stage sky supreme cultivation let him kill the beasts, one after another.
“Boss, behind you!” A single Subterranean Beast appeared right behind him. Pan Sheng was currently setting up a formation. If he left his range and abandoned it, he’d find himself surrounded by a pack of Subterranean Beasts. There was no way he could help Jiang Yong in time.
“Explosion!” A massive fireball slammed right into the Subterranean Beast.
“Thanks!” Jiang Yong grinned.
Murong Xue, however, simply scoffed irritably. “Barbarian.”
Although that’s what she said, she and the Dai sisters started acting as his support, ensuring that he could safely slaughter his way through the Subterranean Beasts.
At the same time, Murong Xue shouted at the two men being chased by beasts, “Don’t just stand there! Hurry up and run! Leave this to us!”
Both of them nodded in obvious gratitude then rushed on ahead. However, they coincidentally bumped right into Ye Zichen and Xue Mo, who were on their way to act as reinforcements.
The instance they collided, both the two fleeing men and Ye Zichen inexplicably stopped. Their eyes met, then widened with obvious astonishment. “Brother Ye?”
When he heard their uncertain question, Ye Zichen gulped in surprise. “Jade Emperor? Great Sacred Emperor Equaling Heavens?”
