"We just need to sleep here and wait for the sect to summon us back. That Little Fatty is as slippery as a ghost, no need to worry."
After Zhang Chen finished speaking, he extinguished the lantern and lay down on the bluestone with Xiaodouding to sleep. Now that the sky was dark, who would know they were lying here?
Zhang Chen wanted to quietly be lazy and avoid trouble, but he couldn’t prevent an unfortunate fool from charging up on their own.
Suddenly, shouting voices erupted from the distant mountains, the sounds of angry roars and battle cries reverberating among the peaks. Zhang Chen and Xiaodouding sat up in the darkness, their eyes looking towards the source of the chaos with astonishment: "Which unfortunate fool didn’t escape and actually got caught?"
Zhang Chen was surprised but had no intention of getting involved. Instead, he hid in the forest and waited slowly.
About an hour later, the sound of rapid footsteps suddenly echoed in the forest, accompanied by urgent panting. A bloody figure came rushing from the distant woods.
Zhang Chen was taken aback when he saw the person—Wu Ming’Er.
Wu Ming’Er was injured, with arrows sticking out of him. It seemed the kid had gone through a hard fight to break out of the encirclement.
Zhang Chen saw Wu Ming’Er, and Wu Ming’Er also saw Zhang Chen.
The moon had risen, allowing visibility of people but not of their faces, only a general outline. Although Wu Ming’Er was hit by arrows, it didn’t affect his steps at all.
Initially, when Wu Ming’Er saw Zhang Chen from afar, he came this way with murderous intent, not considering Zhang Chen at all. Whoever blocked his path would simply be killed. After all, according to the information he received, the Yang God experts were busy with the Divine Enthronement and wouldn’t be taking action.
But when Wu Ming’Er got closer and saw Zhang Chen’s face, he couldn’t help but secretly exclaim, "What rotten luck!"
Aside from the few experts of the Yellow Heaven Dao, he was confident he could fight his way through any Yellow Heaven Dao expert he encountered. Unfortunately, he ran into Zhang Chen, who was among those ’few’.
Thinking of his own trembling Divine Techniques bloodline made a great terror rise in his heart.
"Junior brother, I didn’t expect to run into you. I can’t believe my fate has come to an end, and I’m going to die here today." Wu Ming’Er stopped his steps, looking at Zhang Chen with a bitter smile.
"Senior brother, you’re mistaken. When did I say I would intercept you?" Zhang Chen smiled as he stood on the bluestone.
Wu Ming’Er was taken aback by this, a glimmer of hope rising in his heart. The originally extinguished spark of hope rekindled: "Junior brother, does that mean..."
Zhang Chen pointed to the mountain path beside him: "Senior brother, you can leave. I only request that if you get caught, you don’t reveal my identity."
Delighted, Wu Ming’Er removed his mask, revealing his true face, and bowed to Zhang Chen: "Junior brother, I won’t say thank you for such a great favor. I will definitely repay you in the future."
After speaking, Wu Ming’Er ran past the huge stone, showing no defenses against Zhang Chen.
Only when Wu Ming’Er had walked far away did Xiaodouding approach with confusion and ask, "Junior brother, why did you let him go?"
"We have no enmity, only different stances." Zhang Chen stroked Xiaodouding’s little head. "Remember, some people, though from different camps, are not our enemies."
"Let’s go. We shouldn’t stay here. The senior brothers from the Daoist Temple will track us down soon, and staying here isn’t suitable." Zhang Chen picked up Xiaodouding and disappeared into the darkness.
Not long after Zhang Chen and Xiaodouding left, as expected, disciples from the Daoist Temple came after them with crossbow arrows, but by then, Wu Ming’Er’s trail was long gone.
The crossbow arrow is the best tool against Martial Dao experts. Even if you are Seeing God Unbreakable, you’re still flesh and blood. Faced with a barrage of arrows, you’d still be killed.
A night of chaos yielded no results, and the disciples returned to the mountains empty-handed, having found nothing.
Liu Feng’s face was somber, and Zhang Xiaohua’s was clouded with a darkness as if a storm was brewing.
The situation involving Li Donglai and Wu Ming’Er was of great consequence. Now that the other party had escaped, it had truly disrupted the plans, leaving him at a loss.
"How dare he! To disregard the sect’s honor, he truly deserves a thousand cuts!" Liu Feng trembled with rage. This blunder would not be tolerated by the higher-ups.
"Observatory Master, what should we do now?" someone asked.
"Continue the competition and first gather the remaining Qi Blood," Liu Feng replied, then turned to Zhang Xiaohua: "Prince, don’t be impatient. I’ve arranged everything below, and you won’t need to intervene. Just go through the motions, and you’ll succeed easily."
Then Liu Feng addressed the disciples, "Continue the martial arts competition. Remove Li Donglai and Wu Ming’Er from the top ten. The rest, come draw lots, and the match will be decided by this morning."
As Liu Feng finished speaking, many disciples withdrew, leaving only Zhang Chen, Chu Mingyue, and Zhang Xiaohua to step forward.
Chu Mingyue was pale, with no color on his face, obviously having suffered severe injuries the night before. He forced himself onto the stage to defeat Zhang Chen and flatter Zhang Xiaohua so Zhang Xiaohua wouldn’t have to participate.
At this point, Liu Feng’s gaze turned to Zhang Chen, giving a meaningful look: "Zhang Chen, all the disciples from the Daoist Temple have withdrawn from the contest. Do you still want to compete?"
Zhang Chen appeared not to understand Liu Feng’s implicit meaning, holding his Treasure Sword and stepping forward: "Observatory Master, I wish to continue the competition."
Liu Feng was indifferent, not regarding Zhang Chen at all. After all, a Martial Dao expert who had refined Qi Blood was a completely different being from an ordinary person.
Even though Liu Feng had suffered major injuries, he could still easily suppress Zhang Chen.
"Draw lots." Liu Feng waved his hand, signaling for the box.
So Zhang Chen and the others stepped forward to draw lots. Unsurprisingly, Zhang Chen was paired against Chu Mingyue, and Zhang Xiaohua got a bye. As long as Chu Mingyue won and then faced Zhang Xiaohua with exhaustion and severe injuries, naturally, Zhang Xiaohua would win first place.
This arrangement was reasonable and couldn’t be faulted.
"Boy, come on up. Let’s end this quickly," Chu Mingyue stepped onto the high platform, displaying a sinister smile at Zhang Chen.
Holding his Treasure Sword, Zhang Chen ascended the platform unhurriedly, then looked at Chu Mingyue: "I didn’t expect you to come up to the stage to carve a path for your master with such serious injuries. You’re truly a qualified dog."
Chu Mingyue’s face changed at these words, glaring at Zhang Chen: "Sharp-tongued! Soon, I’ll show you what real skill is. Have you thought about how you want to die yet? Or, have you decided to lose your left leg or right leg?"
Chu Mingyue didn’t wield a weapon. As an esteemed Martial Dao expert who had refined Qi Blood, using a weapon against a mortal would be a joke.
"Don’t worry, I won’t kill you. I’ll just make sure you spend the rest of your life in bed, to avenge the Crown Prince for the grievances you caused him." Chu Mingyue’s face was icy.
"Enough talk, make your move! If you have real skills, bring them on. If not, don’t blame me if my sword has no eyes." Zhang Chen said with a smile.
Thinking of Xiaodouding’s missing two front teeth, Zhang Chen couldn’t help but burn with anger, his eyes blazing with fury.
Such a lovely child, yet the other party could be so ruthless. Is that even human?
Simply inhuman.
"Boy, the cockier you are now, the more miserable you’ll be later." Chu Mingyue sneered coldly, and in the next moment, his Qi Blood surged, suppressing his injuries as he charged directly towards Zhang Chen’s position.