Chapter 296: Chapter 296: Outside the Forbidden Land, Lu Hanyan
Tan An panted, speaking urgently, "Madam Lu, Golden Fragrance Bottle, Brother Luo told you all to hurry back! The armies of Tiger Flame and the other two Great Flame Countries have arrived. War is about to break out!"
As his voice fell, the expressions of the three women changed slightly.
’Lu Chao still hasn’t come out of the Forbidden Land, and a war is about to start.’
The three women weren’t too surprised by the arrival of the armies from Tiger Flame and the other Great Flame Countries. Lu Chao had predicted it as soon as they first entered the Beast Flame territory.
In the three days since Lu Chao had entered the Forbidden Land, they had received intelligence reports confirming it.
The Three Great Flame Countries were indeed gathering their massive armies and converging on the Beast Flame region.
And now, they had finally arrived.
Cheng Yunsu and the other two women gazed deeply at the eerie, terrifying Azure Flame Forbidden Land before finally gritting their teeth and leaving.
They had to rendezvous with their troops and, alongside the forces from Dragon Flame Academy and the various Small Kingdoms, resist the onslaught of the Three Great Flame Countries.
"We absolutely cannot lose," Cheng Yunsu declared forcefully to the other two. "Even though Lu Chao isn’t here right now, we must win."
The Fire Sparrow Bone within her body ignited, seeming to let out a long, piercing cry.
However, not long after the three women and Tan An had left the vicinity of the Forbidden Land...
Suddenly, Cheng Yunsu’s heart began to pound. Her Heavenly Fire Sparrow Divine Bone seemed to have sensed something.
She instinctively stopped in her tracks. "Who’s there? Show yourself!"
The surroundings were deathly silent. There was no response...
Tan An, Fan Jinxiang, and Yu Xiaoping also stopped abruptly, their eyes scanning the area with extreme vigilance, but they found nothing.
"Sister Yunsu, did you find something?" Yu Xiaoping asked in a low voice.
Cheng Yunsu’s brow furrowed. After carefully trying to sense it again, she found that the strange feeling from before had vanished. In the end, she shook her head. "It must have been my imagination. I’m probably just on edge. Let’s get going."
And so, the four of them flickered away, heading to rendezvous with the others from Dragon Flame Academy...
And not long after they left... THUMP, THUMP, THUMP.
The sound of footsteps echoed as a slender figure slowly emerged from the shadows. The figure looked in the direction the group had gone. "Patriarch Ming, that woman with the Fire Sparrow Bone... what level of Destiny Bone does she have?"
Another figure slowly stepped out. A grim voice replied, "Top-level. A Heavenly Bone."
The slender figure replied softly, "That’s very strange. Why would my Water Chant Saint Bone react so unusually?"
After all, a Saint Bone shouldn’t have such a strong reaction to a mere top-level Heavenly Bone.
If Cheng Yunsu had heard the four words "Water Chant Saint Bone," she would have known instantly that she hadn’t been imagining things, and she would have known exactly who the slender, speaking figure was.
Of course, it was none other than Lu Dingtian’s daughter: Lu Hanyan!
The Water Chant Saint Bone had originally been one of Lu Chao’s three Heavenly Destiny Saint Bones, but it had been stolen by Lu Hanyan.
The man Lu Hanyan called Patriarch Ming replied coolly, "It’s perfectly normal for Miss Lu’s Heavenly Destiny Saint Bone to react a little strangely. After all, your Heavenly Destiny Saint Bone... is more powerful than mine."
"My Saint Bone, on the other hand, didn’t feel much of anything."
As soon as he said this, Lu Hanyan looked over at Patriarch Ming, a cold glint flashing in her eyes.
As for this so-called Patriarch Ming...
He was, of course, the patriarch of the Great Wu Empire’s Saint Bone Ming Family and the grandfather of Ming Yi, the very same man Lu Chao had killed in the Dragon Flame Palace.
And of course, his words held a hidden meaning.
Rumors were now circulating among the powerful elite of the Great Wu Empire that Lu Dingtian had carved out Lu Chao’s Heavenly Destiny Saint Bones, allowing the three of them—the father and his two children—to all possess Saint Bones.
But such rumors could only be whispered in secret; no one dared to speak of them openly.
Even the Patriarch of the Ming Family had only dared to allude to it.
Of course, neither Lu Hanyan nor Patriarch Ming knew that Cheng Yunsu’s Heavenly Fire Sparrow Bone was actually a Divine Bone with a concealed rank. That was the real reason Lu Hanyan’s Water Chant Saint Bone had reacted so strangely.
In any case, after staring at Patriarch Ming for a moment, Lu Hanyan decided not to pursue the topic.
She simply said coolly, "Let’s go, Patriarch Ming. The ’Fake Lu Chao’ should be out of the Azure Flame Forbidden Land soon. We’ll capture him alive right here, take him back to the Great Wu Empire, and publicly dismember him."
Hearing this, Patriarch Ming’s voice turned venomous, brimming with murderous intent. "Ming Yi, your grandfather is about to avenge you."
Lu Hanyan heard him and reminded him with a smile, "Patriarch Ming, you must keep your composure. If Fan Changcun comes out with him, we can’t kill that old bastard. He’s far too useful. He might even lead us to... the secrets of the Azure Flame Sect."
Patriarch Ming snorted. "I, of course, understand."
With that said, the two of them began walking step by step toward the Azure Flame Forbidden Land...
They had come here, of course, for Lu Chao.
In Sword Tooth City, her army had been routed by the mere sight of a mask—an incident Lu Hanyan considered the greatest humiliation of her life.
Patriarch Ming, for his part, was here to take revenge on Lu Chao.
However, their primary target on this trip was not Lu Chao, but Fan Changcun. They had already received intelligence that Fan Changcun had been inside the Forbidden Land for over half a month.
They wanted to capture... Fan Changcun.
One: to force him to pass on his knowledge of the Soldier Dao.
Two: after spending over half a month in the Azure Flame Forbidden Land, Fan Changcun might have already uncovered its secrets.
Their plan was to use the cover of the war between the Three Great Flame Countries and Dragon Flame Academy to seize this Master of Martial Arts, Fan Changcun.
...
「Meanwhile...」
Cheng Yunsu’s group of four rejoined their allies, only to see a massive, dense sea of soldiers from the Three Great Flame Countries surrounding the Beast Flame Academy.
Luo Wendeng was still acting as the Commander for the Dragon Flame Academy’s forces, filling in for Lu Chao.
Dongfang Ren, meanwhile, led the heads of the various Small Institutes and other masters, standing guard against the experts from the Three Great Flame Countries.
As soon as Cheng Yunsu’s group returned, Dongfang Ren said quietly, "I can sense Zeng Quan and his people... and it seems Zheng Liling’s aura is also among the armies of the Three Great Flame Countries. Everyone, be on your guard."
Zeng Quan was the head of the Beast Flame and Celestial King Academies, and Zheng Liling was the patriarch of the Saint Bone Zheng Family.
Both men were extremely powerful...
Dongfang Ren’s words made the atmosphere grow even more tense and urgent. The Dragon Flame Academy’s side was on the defensive, while the Three Great Flame Countries were poised to attack.
...
Far in the rear of the Three Great Flame Countries’ army, inside a horse-drawn carriage.
Just as Dongfang Ren had said, both Zheng Liling and Zeng Quan were indeed present. Inside the carriage with them was a man in black robes—he was none other than Elder Ming Huawan of the Great Martial Saint Bone Ming Family...
Zheng Liling spoke. "Elder Ming, will Patriarch Ming have any problem dealing with Sun Shijin?"
Ming Huawan laughed coldly. "Patriarch Zheng, you jest. Even three Sun Shijins combined would be no match for our patriarch. We must thank you, Patriarch Zheng... for giving us this chance to take our revenge and even capture Fan Changcun."
It was Zheng Liling who had provided them with the intelligence that Fan Changcun and Lu Chao were currently inside the Azure Flame Forbidden Land.
