This... To think that I wouldn't notice that the major sects were actually chasing after us back when we left the capital city…
Looking down at his communication talisman after having learnt about the fact that Xu Bao had ended up getting surrounded by a large number of Domain Lord Realm Experts along with three who had reached the Seventh Stage of the Domain Lord Realm, Xuan Hao could not help feeling surprised at the fact that he hadn't noticed them following them before he had left.
It had to be known that his divine sense covered an area several times larger than that of a normal Domain Lord Realm Expert at the Ninth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm. All things considered, if anyone had been secretly following them from behind, he should have been able to notice them during the sweep he did of the area around them with his divine sense before leaving them to start making his way back towards the Star Shattering Sect.
"I don't have much time to waste if I want to safe Xu Bao…" Understanding very well that the independent sects would be of no use to the Star Shattering Sect if their strongest backer ended up dying, Xuan Hao did not waste any time before turning around to start moving in the direction of where Xu Bao had told him he had been surrounded.
Swish-!
However, even if his speed was far faster than that of a normal Domain Lord in the Ninth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm, it had still been several days since he parted ways with Xu Bao and the rest of the independent sects. Even if he used the Drifting Cloud Steps at its full potential at, it would still take him two or three days before he could reach the location where Xu Bao had been surrounded.
For now, all he could do was hope that Xu Bao would be able to hold on until he could reach him.
…
BANG!
"Aaaah!" Letting out a painful scream as he felt himself getting knocked flying into a nearby mountain by one of the Seventh Stage Domain Lords, Xu Bao could not help feeling regretful that he didn't ask Xuan Hao to stay behind for a few more days after they had left the capital city.
Although he did have his suspicions that there might be a traitor among the people from the Stone Horn Sect or the Tree Flower Sect after what had happened to their disciples, he had never expected that the traitor in question would be someone among the people who had gone to the capital city!
Whoosh~
As Xu Bao was struggling to get his badly damaged body up again, one of the Seventh Stage Domain Lords approached him with an arrogant smile on his face. "Haha! Old man! How much longer do you think you can escape? Don't think that the imperial family will suddenly show up to rescue you this time around, they are far too busy to show up anytime soon!"
"You-"
"Hehe, now just die old man, we will make sure to take care of your sect and the rest of the independent sects later!" Interrupting Xu Bao before he had a chance to say anything, the arrogant Domain Lord floating above him directly gathered all of his power together in a single powerful attack before sending it down towards him.
BOOM-!
Barely managing to get up in time to defend against the incoming attack, Xu Bao soon found himself standing in the middle of a massive crater that had appeared beneath him. The mountain he had been on just a second earlier had been completely destroyed by the terrifying attack of the Seventh Stage Domain Lord floating in the air above him.
I won't be able to hold on for much longer like this…
Understanding that he wouldn't be able to keep fighting back any longer if things continued like this with him passively getting beaten up, Xu Bao thought about trying to escape like he had done when he had first been surrounded.
Although he had been injured back then and had been forced to use a powerful lifesaving artifact, he had spent a long time getting his hands on when he had been younger, it had still allowed him to escape for close to a day before they had managed to catch up with him again. Compared to the last day he had spent on getting beaten up while desperately using all kinds of different artifacts and other lifesaving tools to keep himself alive, Xu Bao far preferred the time he had spent running away.
The only problem, there was no way that the one floating above him or the rest hiding not far away would give him the chance-
BOOOOOOOOM-!
Just at this moment, a terrifying sound echoed through the surroundings before a shockwave of energy passed over them from afar, tearing apart the ground and scattering debris in all directions. Catching Xu Bao and the rest of the Domain Lords present by surprise before all of them turned to look towards the location of the shockwave.
In the distance, two people could be seen clashing with each other, one could be seen unleashing a barrage of devastating attacks while the other defended without allowing a single attack to land. The sound of their battle alone was more than enough to send shivers running down the spine of Xu Bao and the rest of the Domain Lords fearfully looking towards the source of the terrifying energy shockwave that had just passed over them.
Even without getting any closer, they all understood that the people fighting in the distance were not in the Domain Lord Realm, they were Soul Ascension Realm cultivators!
Boom-boom-boom!
"Wait… Aren't they getting closer…?" As the battle in the distance raged on, the Seventh Stage Domain Lord floating in the air above Xu Bao quietly muttered this to himself with a look of both shock and fear plastered all over his face.
"W-we need to get out of here! No matter what, there is no way for us to survive if we get involved in the battle between two Soul Ascension Realm Experts!"
"But what about that old man Xu Bao?"
"Do you perhaps want to stay and keep fighting?"
Following what the Seventh Stage Domain Lord said, the rest of the Domain Lords in the distance all started panicking, some even directly disregarded everything and used all their strength to escape as quickly as possible.
Swish-!
Understanding that a chance like this would not come again, Xu Bao used this opportunity to try and escape-
Bang!
But the Seventh stage Domain Lord in the air above him was not just going to let this happen, as he appeared in front of Xu Bao before knocking him back in the direction of the two fighting Soul Ascension Realm Experts. "Hmph! Think I would allow you to escape just because of this!? Even if I can't kill you today, I will make sure you won't be able to leave this place alive! Brothers, come and help me!"
Whoosh-!
Whoosh-!
Appearing beside the Seventh Stage Domain Lord floating in the air not far away from Xu Bao, the remaining two Seventh Stage Domain Lords both looked towards Xu Bao filled with killing intent.
"Sure, but we need be quick, we don't want to be caught up in whatever is happening between those two Soul Ascension Realm Experts. Especially when the imperial family shows up to deal with the matter…"
"I understand, I don't want to be around when more Soul Ascension Realm Experts start showing up either…"
As the three Seventh Stage Domain Lords came to an agreement, they all gathered their power together before launching a combined attack towards Xu Bao who had just gotten back up from the earlier attack.
WHOOOSH~
As the powerful combined attack of three Seventh Stage Domain Lords landed on him, Xu Bao used everything at his disposal to fend off against the terrifying power-
BOOOOOOM-!
"Aaaaaah-!"
But in the end, there was no way for him to fend off against the terrifying combined attack. All he could do was watch as a large part of his body was destroyed by the energy before he was knocked in the direction of the battle between the two Soul Ascension Realm Experts.
They want to borrow the power of the two Soul Ascension Realm Experts fighting to kill me off…
Not having to be a genius to figure out what the three Seventh Stage Domain Lords wanted to do, Xu Bao could not help silently cursing as he understood that his chances of getting out alive had disappeared.
As for escaping… The current state of his body did not allow him to do this in the short term, he would need at least a few minutes to recover from the powerful combined attack just now.
No matter what kind of trump cards he might have left, none of them would be able to help him defend for that long against the terrifying shockwaves that would hit him when the two Soul Ascension Realm Experts got a little closer!
As for where these Soul Ascension Realm Experts came from in the first place? This was simply not something he had the time or luxury to think about in his current situation…