Chapter 1085: Chapter 1084: Pursuit
Vast Nine Provinces, at the extreme northeast, Youzhou.
This is an extremely desolate and bitterly cold land, covered everywhere by thick white snow, ice sealed three feet deep, with flurries of snowflakes drifting in mid-air, exuding a chilling aura.
At this moment, deep within this barren land, there lies an ice cave, extraordinarily deep, probably ten thousand feet down, shrouded by an array formation, making it highly concealed.
The bottom of the ice cave is filled with cold air, a sinister aura permeating, adding a touch of evil to this underground space.
Most of the underground space is shrouded in darkness, but amidst the darkness, one can see nine ice coffins, each housing a very tall figure.
Crack!
Suddenly, one of the ice coffins opened automatically, and from within, a tall and imposing black shadow climbed out, standing upright.
"Sir, you have awakened."
At the moment the dark shadow broke out from the coffin, a captivating female voice echoed from the darkness.
"Yes. From the distant south, there is a power calling me."
The black shadow’s voice was deep and demonic, as he waved his sleeve suddenly, the darkness in front surged away, revealing one black plaque after another, each inscribed with a name.
Most plaques were dim, except for one which emitted a faint glow, flickering on and off.
On the plaque, "The Evil Lord" was prominently inscribed with large characters.
There seemed to be a glimmer in the black shadow’s eyes, followed by the deep voice resounding again, "The Evil Lord has returned to the living world, yet his aura is now weak to the extreme, and could vanish at any moment. Flower Demon, go and aid him."
"Understood!"
The black-clad woman named Flower Demon bowed, then disappeared into the darkness.
After the black-clad woman vanished, the black shadow muttered to himself, "The Evil Lord has reappeared in Jianghu, his past cultivation was as high as the Saint Dao Eightfold Realm. If he can recover his peak strength, he will be a formidable figure in our Demon Way."
"However, given The Evil Lord’s current state, he’s probably left with only a demon seed. Restoring his strength might take quite some effort."
As his voice faded, the black shadow waved his sleeve again, turning and hiding back into the darkness.
...
Yangzhou, Qinglong Town.
Inside a teahouse.
Among the passing Jianghu guests, there was a masked young swordsman, resting and sipping tea.
It was Ling Chen.
After leaving the Tianyan Mountain Range, Ling Chen immediately headed toward Xuzhou. Now he and the Huangfu Clan were sworn enemies, given their influence in Yangzhou Territory, if they truly exert effort to find him, he’ll likely struggle to escape their notice.
Although Ling Chen’s strength has greatly improved compared to before, he doesn’t believe he can disregard the Huangfu Clan, with their deep roots, even deploying several Saints to hunt him down would be no surprise.
Ling Chen only rested for a moment in Qinglong Small Town, drank a few sips of tea, then departed, resuming his journey.
Yet Ling Chen failed to notice, not far behind him, a strange black bee suddenly flew past quietly.
Just as Ling Chen had left, two extraordinarily strong auras appeared in Qinglong Town.
Of the two, one was an Elder in a gray robe, holding a gilded walking stick, wearing a robe embroidered with Azure Dragon patterns, and the other had an aura at the Saint level, wearing half a golden mask, appearing mysterious, embroidering a unicorn motif on his chest, exuding a fierce aura.
The masked man signaled with his hand, a strange black bee flew before him, buzzing incessantly.
Listening to the buzzing, the masked man waved his hand, and the black bee flew in the direction Ling Chen had departed.
"That kid was just here, surely he hasn’t gone far. My Ten Thousand Miles Soul-Tracking Bee has already tracked him, soon it will lock onto his location."
The masked man glanced at the gray-robed Elder, speaking calmly.
"Truly, you live up to your name as the Capture God, in this world, no one can escape your tracking."
The gray-robed Elder beamed, his eyes suddenly cold with malicious intent. This trip to the Tianyan Mountain Range had brought great losses to the Huangfu Clan, nearly a complete defeat, losing two Senior Half-Saint Elders, not to mention Huangfu Qi, the clan’s top young genius, falling prey to Ling Chen’s poison.
After hearing this news, the clan’s top brass were enraged, developing a mission to kill Ling Chen. Thus, the Huangfu Clan spared no expense in hiring "Capture God", hailed as the world’s foremost Capture Officer, to pursue Ling Chen.
Getting Capture God’s help is no easy feat, yet coincidentally, Capture God seemed to hold a grudge with Ling Chen, so once they contacted him, he readily agreed.
It’s heaven-sent assistance for the Huangfu Clan to eliminate the Little Demon Ling Chen.
Despite the gray-robed Elder’s praises, Capture God appeared cold, his motive for taking action was his prior enmity with Ling Chen, who killed his favored disciple Bai Shaochuan, a matter etched in his mind.
However, since Capture God’s Big Disciple Luo Yutang lost to Ling Chen and vowed not to trouble him again, and Ling Chen has since found new backing, Capture God naturally hesitated.
Even now, he remains apprehensive.
"I heard Ling Chen is a figure esteemed by Empress Yunyao, assisting your Huangfu Clan in pursuing him won’t bring trouble for me, will it?"
Capture God glanced at the gray-robed Elder, coolly.
"Rest assured, in Yangzhou territory, besides Azure Dragon Family, it’s our Huangfu Clan! Even the Imperial Clan and Imperial Court can’t reach here."
The gray-robed Elder smiled, yet a chilling gleam flashed deep in his eyes. "Capture God, act freely, even if Empress Yunyao has grievances, the Huangfu Clan will bear the brunt. I refuse to believe our clan’s lives aren’t worth more than Ling Chen’s!"
"That’s reassuring."
Capture God nodded slightly, he wished to deal with Ling Chen, but feared Empress Yunyao’s wrath. However, since the gray-robed Elder was backed by the family’s power, unafraid of her, Capture God, lacking such support, naturally had to respect Empress Yunyao, a Venerable.
However, with the gray-robed Elder’s assurance, Capture God felt no burden, allowing the Elder to act when dealing the killing blow, leaving any blame to him.
