Chapter 123: The Spirit Eye Clan

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The blazing sun hung high overhead. Beneath the noonday light, it lent a faint touch of color to the desolate, ruined battlefield.

Three men and a horse traveled across a mountain range formed from heaps of colossal stones and rubble.

“Junior Brother, no matter which direction I divine at the moment, none of them shows any danger.”

“Then that proves we can walk anywhere we please with Junior Brother around.”

Ever since Xu Chen’s strength had increased, Li Chengfu had relaxed considerably while traveling.

“That makes things too easy. Find me a direction that does show danger.”

With the sun shining brilliantly across the endless sky, Xu Chen was in an excellent mood and even began joking.

“Then let us head straight for the center of the battlefield.” Zong Changshou suddenly pointed into the distance. That was where the battlefield’s center lay.

The Rainbow Tower happened to stand in that direction as well.

The three of them looked toward it and discovered that the tower’s radiance had begun to dim, as though it were on the verge of vanishing.

“I wonder how many floors the Rainbow Tower has at its highest point.”

Xu Chen had already made up his mind. Once they returned, he would ask his two senior brothers to find him a teacher. He was determined to master the history of humanity, the ancient written scriptures, and everything else related to human civilization.

The three of them promptly left the mountainous region and returned to the ordinary battlefield.

At that moment, a figure in the distance was battling a foreign race, its body resembling a golden flame.

“Come on. Let us go see what is happening.”

They were more than ten miles away, but after Xu Chen activated the Three-God Sight technique, he recognized the fighter in the distance as Jin Lihuo.

Jin Lihuo was fighting two high-ranking members of a foreign race, each possessing the strength of nine dragons, all by himself.

His movements were broad and forceful, his attacks blazing like the scorching sun. To an outside observer, he seemed to have the upper hand.

Yet Xu Chen could see that Jin Lihuo was constantly being suppressed by the two high-ranking enemies. They were trying to exhaust his blood and vitality before capturing him alive.

As they neared the battlefield, Xu Chen called out, “Brother Jin, do you need help?”

The moment Jin Lihuo heard Xu Chen’s voice, his expression changed drastically.

“Brother Xu, run! A powerful expert is protecting them from nearby!”

As he spoke, a figure appeared in the sky and shot toward Xu Chen like lightning.

“A powerful expert?”

Xu Chen did not even look at the figure overhead. He simply drew the long spear from his back and sent it streaking into the sky like a beam of black light.

Boom!

Before the figure could come within a hundred yards of Xu Chen, it exploded into a cloud of blood in midair.

The two high-ranking foreigners and Jin Lihuo, who had been fighting, were all stunned.

The two foreigners exchanged a glance before abruptly fleeing into the distance.

“Junior Brother Xu, do not let them escape!”

Jin Lihuo hurried after them. Two arrows that split the wind instantly caught up, pinning the two foreigners to the ground and sealing their heart meridians.

“Brother Xu, congratulations on your tremendous improvement!” Jin Lihuo forced a smile onto his face.

“I merely had a sudden insight.”

“Brother Jin, why are you alone?”

“And what are you keeping these two high-ranking foreigners alive for?” Xu Chen asked curiously.

“My junior brothers and sisters were captured by them. I was following their trail.”

“Instead, I fell into their ambush.” Jin Lihuo viciously kicked one of the foreigners.

“Only while tracking them did I discover that a group of high-ranking members of the Sacred Spirit Heavenly Court has been specifically capturing humans. I have no idea what they intend to do.”

“Capturing humans?” Several possibilities immediately flashed through Xu Chen’s mind.

At that moment, Li Chengfu and Zong Changshou came over.

“Senior Brother Zong, I will trouble you to handle this.” Xu Chen briefly explained the situation.

“Leave it to me. I guarantee I will make them reveal where they are hiding.”

Zong Changshou dragged the two foreigners away with practiced ease.

Seeing that Jin Lihuo looked as though he wanted to say something but hesitated, Xu Chen asked, “Brother Jin, are you skilled at extracting confessions?”

“I am not particularly skilled at that.”

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“My junior brother is. If he cannot force the information out of them, you certainly will not be able to.”

“All right.”

As Jin Lihuo waited uneasily, a series of screams rang out.

Before long, the screams abruptly ceased.

Silence followed for a while, then more cries of agony echoed from the distance.

An hour later, Zong Changshou returned carrying his torture chest and a small notebook.

“We got the information. They have six hiding places in total. Every one of them is guarded by high-ranking foreigners possessing the strength of nine dragons. Each location has at least five guards.”

“As for why they are capturing humans, it is an order from the Sacred Spirit Heavenly Court. They are to seize humans, preferably those with greater strength, and bring them back to the Sacred Spirit Heavenly Court.”

Hearing what Zong Changshou had extracted, Jin Lihuo turned his gaze toward the distant Rainbow Tower.

“Brother Xu, this matter is far from ordinary. We must contact those prodigies whose blood and vitality have reached the strength of nine dragons or beyond.” Jin Lihuo’s brows drew tightly together, and worry clouded his face.

Xu Chen looked toward Zong Changshou.

“A thousand miles from the center of the battlefield, there is a deep abyss. Our people are guarding its edge.”

“Through them, we can contact the forces of the Human Emperor Grand Dao Palace.”

As he spoke, Zong Changshou took out a notebook and quickly wrote down the six locations. He tore out the page and handed it to Jin Lihuo.

“We will split into two groups. We will investigate those six locations, while you notify the prodigies of the Human Emperor Grand Dao Palace,” Xu Chen said, assigning their tasks.

“Understood. I will leave first.”

Jin Lihuo stepped into the air and vanished beyond the horizon.

Xu Chen studied the positions of the six locations.

“Let us go to the nearest one first and find out why they are capturing humans.”

They had been wandering aimlessly through the Ancient Battlefield in search of treasure. They might as well have a clear objective and seize the initiative against the foreign races.

“With my concealment abilities now, investigating these places will be easy.”

“If Junior Brother intends to rescue the prisoners, acting at one location might alert the others.” Zong Changshou looked at Xu Chen, worried that his powerful ally might act rashly.

“Do you think I would do something that foolish?” Xu Chen looked at him strangely.

“It is only because your strength has risen so quickly. I was afraid that…”

“Relax. We are only going to investigate.”

The three men and the horse headed toward the nearest location.

“Wait!”

As he spoke, Xu Chen ran several hundred yards from the group and pulled a long sword from a patch of soft earth.

“There are cracks in the blade, but it should still be worth something.”

He swung the long sword experimentally.

“Not bad. This is the first damaged treasure from the Ancient Battlefield we have found.”

With a laugh, Li Chengfu took the sword from Xu Chen and placed it among the luggage carried by the Illusion-Color Dragon Horse.

The three men and the horse continued in that direction. Along the way, they encountered several groups of foolish foreigners who attacked them without realizing the difference in strength. Xu Chen slew them all with ease.

After traveling for a full day, they arrived at the nearest location. By then, a major battle was already nearing its end.

A prodigy of the Blood-Qi Realm, dressed in the robes of the Human Emperor Grand Dao Palace, was gripping a foreigner by the throat with one hand. His expression was dark and grim.

“So you are from the Spirit Eye Clan. Remember this well!”

“One day, I will exterminate your entire race!”

The Blood-Qi Realm prodigy twisted the foreigner’s neck and snapped it.

As though sensing something, the prodigy abruptly turned his eyes toward Xu Chen’s direction.

“You came too late. They are all dead,” he said coldly before turning and entering the site.

Xu Chen, his companions, and the horse followed him inside. The scene before them instantly filled their eyes with fury.

“I do not know who alerted them, but the foreigners killed all several thousand of the people they had captured.” The Blood-Qi Realm prodigy gritted his teeth, his body trembling uncontrollably as boundless killing intent churned within him.

Every person here had been confined like livestock inside a tiny cage. The expressions they wore before death were filled with anguish and unwillingness.

Thousands of cages occupied several acres of ground.

Aside from the Blood-Qi Realm prodigy from the Human Emperor Grand Dao Palace, there were other people present as well. They were removing the dead from the cages and carrying them to graves that had already been dug.

Xu Chen and the others were about to help.

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But the Blood-Qi Realm prodigy looked toward Xu Chen.

“Come with me. We will inspect the other locations.”

“Let us go.”

There was a subtle understanding between experts. Xu Chen asked no further questions and immediately traveled through the air with the prodigy.

“I did not expect you to discover this so early,” Xu Chen said after they had flown for some time.

“We have been tracking them all along. We recently began closing the net, but everyone at the location under my responsibility was killed.”

“I only hope we can save the people at the other sites.”

The robed prodigy turned and gave Xu Chen a long, penetrating look.

“Gu Chuan of the Human Emperor Grand Dao Palace.”

“Xu Chen of the Daxi Sect in Lei Prefecture,” Xu Chen replied.

“With strength like yours, why are you hiding away in a minor sect? And your little grandmaster could actually become my junior brother.”

“Uh…”

Could I really tell him that I had only managed to enter that little sect through connections?

The two men moved swiftly. Before long, they had crossed a thousand miles and reached the second location.

The battle there had already ended. Only half of the prisoners had been rescued.

The person in charge was Xu Chen’s own grandmaster.

“How is the situation on your side?” The little grandmaster first turned toward Gu Chuan.

“They are all dead.” Gu Chuan’s expression was grim.

“Dead is still better than being taken back to the Sacred Spirit Heavenly Court.” The little grandmaster sighed, his face full of sorrow.

“Xu Chen, your strength has improved again. Perhaps we will have a chance to fight side by side in the future.”

“Good.”

Looking at his gentle and refined little grandmaster, Xu Chen suddenly felt that such a person was being treated rather unfairly by remaining in the Daxi Sect.

“I have discovered that your little sect possesses a certain measure of fortune.”

“With a monster like you, and another monster from the same sect, I can sense it through the blood-qi foundation-building method I cultivate.”

“As for this junior of yours, I fought him to the death, and I could not defeat him.” Gu Chuan looked at the two of them.

“But there is no point discussing it. Since your location is already like this, the others must be…”

Gu Chuan sighed.

At that very moment, the little grandmaster and Xu Chen suddenly turned toward the distance.

A figure moving at unbelievable speed seemed to cross the void in an instant, striking toward Xu Chen with a single palm.

“You ruined the Spirit Eye Clan’s plans!”

Accompanied by a voice as cold as frost, a vast force surged toward the three of them like a raging sea.

Boom!

The three men retreated several steps. Their three different forces merged into a wall that blocked the palm strike.

They could have dodged, but the foreign encampment behind them still contained people who were cleaning up the aftermath.

The force of that palm was too powerful. If they evaded it, not a single person behind them would survive.

A tall, slender member of the Spirit Eye Clan stood in the distance, dressed in a black robe patterned with the sun and moon.

“Your luck is quite good. The two of you can be considered prodigies even among the human race.”

“Capturing a few thousand worthless people is not nearly as worthwhile as capturing the two of you.”

A blurred humanoid phantom twenty yards tall appeared behind the Spirit Eye Clan member.

Its eyes contained twin pupils shaped like the sun and moon, radiating a demonic light that made the heart tremble.

A word about the update schedule:

Under normal circumstances, I will post three chapters every day.

The first two usually go up before midnight, while the third is posted after midnight.

End of Chapter