A purple escape light flickered like a ghost across the boundless sky, moving at an incredible speed.
In a moment of daze, Mu Yun saw that streak of purple light plunge straight into the pitch-black chasm below with a whoosh, vanishing without a trace.
Was he going after that Green Serpent Demon King?
Mu Yun recalled the message Li Chengxing had secretly passed to him a day earlier.
The Lord of the Directorate was far away in the Northern Domain and couldn’t personally descend to the Nether Province in the Southern Domain.
So, the Lord of the Directorate had personally reported the matter of the Nether Province to His Majesty the Emperor.
His Majesty then issued an edict, appointing the new Deputy Director of the Vermilion Bird Guard, Lu Xuan, to come to the Nether Province and assist them.
If nothing went wrong, that unfathomably deep purple escape light just now must have been that mysterious new Deputy Director of the Vermilion Bird Guard, Lu Xuan.
No wonder His Majesty had made an exception and personally decreed the creation of a new Deputy Director position for the Vermilion Bird Guard.
Judging by the formidable presence of that person just now, Mu Yun dared to assert that this Lu Xuan was even more powerful than he had imagined.
After all, he himself was a martial artist at the half-step Divine Mansion realm, having reached the absolute peak of his martial arts cultivation.
Yet this Lu Xuan’s martial aura was far superior to his own.
Surely he couldn’t be at that level, could he?
A Divine Mansion True Person?
Since when did the Great Xia Dynasty have a Divine Mansion realm martial artist that even he didn’t know about?
And one bestowed with the position of Deputy Director of the Vermilion Bird Guard by His Majesty, no less!
Mu Yun suddenly snapped back to his senses. His body exploded into motion mid-air, transforming into a streak of light and shadow as he shot toward the direction of Bifeng Valley.
No!
He had to get to Bifeng Valley right away and ask Old Li about this.
Facing a being suspected to be at the Divine Mansion realm, Mu Yun dared not be careless. He needed to ascertain the situation clearly.
About forty miles outside Bifeng Valley, the terrain remained a stretch of continuous, encircling mountains. Peaks rose one after another, covered in desolate silence.
The Green Serpent King had crawled up from ten thousand meters underground at breakneck speed.
As soon as it emerged, an eerie green light rippled across its body, and its serpentine scales shimmered brilliantly.
In an instant, its massive serpent form shrank rapidly, transforming back into human size, taking the shape of a hunched old man draped in a black cloak.
Even after all this, the Green Serpent King dared not relax in the slightest.
As a demon beast, the Green Serpent King possessed an innate, powerful perception.
Ever since it had climbed up from ten thousand meters underground, it had felt an unshakable unease, its very flesh and blood trembling involuntarily.
The Green Serpent King’s golden, vertical pupils glowed faintly, its gaze sharp as lightning as it warily scanned its surroundings.
Then, with a ghostly flicker, its figure darted forward, deeper into the mountains, disappearing into the layers of dense forest in the blink of an eye.
Just as the Green Serpent King was straining with all its might, swiftly weaving through the forest—
Convinced that it had left those annoying humans far behind—
A cold snort suddenly exploded without warning high above the dense mountain forest.
“Hmph!”
This cold sound was like a primeval bell struck with immense force, deep and vast, rolling out like an avalanche.
In the next instant, the sound, carrying a world-destroying momentum, shook the surrounding air until it trembled violently.
It also startled countless birds into flight, creating a swirling black vortex as they frantically flapped their wings and scattered in all directions.
This sudden turn of events made the Green Serpent King’s face turn deathly pale.
It looked up at the sky in terror, its eyes filled with disbelief and profound fear.
There, above the endless mountain forest, a figure had inexplicably materialized.
It was a human, appearing much taller and more imposing than the serpent king. His posture was straight and upright, his hands clasped behind his back, and he radiated an awe-inspiring majesty that made the serpent king’s very soul shudder.
While the Green Serpent King had stopped, Lu Xuan, suspended in mid-air, was staring fixedly at it.
Lu Xuan’s gaze was like a physical force, twin blades of light that locked onto the Green Serpent King with unyielding focus, leaving it no place to hide.
This peak Great Demon King-level beast could certainly run!
With Lu Xuan’s Divine Mansion realm strength and his “World at His Fingertips” martial technique, he had still chased it for at least the time it takes to burn an incense stick.
The fact that it had managed to elude him for so long meant the Green Serpent King’s speed was indeed something to be proud of.
However, a peak Great Demon King-level beast was well worth Lu Xuan’s efforts.
Lu Xuan’s eyes suddenly focused. In an instant, the sky above his head seemed to be stirred by a mysterious force, churning and shifting wildly.
Then, a colossal palm, wreathed in vast purple energy, came crashing down from the heavens, carrying the momentum to obliterate all living things.
Wherever this purple palm passed, countless trees and forests groaned under the terrifying pressure.
Large swaths of trees snapped with sharp cracks, one after another, falling to the ground.
The Green Serpent King, positioned directly beneath the giant purple palm, bore the brunt of its power.
At this moment, the serpent king felt an irresistible, terrifying force bearing down on its head.
Even in its human form, it felt as though every bone in its body was about to be crushed, struggling just to move.
It was as if the very heavens and earth were pressing in on it, leaving no way to dodge this earth-shattering strike.
Trapped in this hopeless situation, the Green Serpent King’s eyes nearly split with rage.
Its originally glowing golden vertical pupils shrank to pinpricks in an instant, filled with terror.
Immediately after, the Green Serpent King let out a shrill, piercing voice, screaming at the top of its lungs in desperation: “Lord Lion, save me!”
In an instant!
A deep roar, carrying immeasurable might and authority, suddenly rang out.
The roar seemed to cross the boundaries of time and space, echoing leisurely across the vast heavens and earth, lingering without end.
The next moment, a dazzling golden light burst forth from within the Green Serpent King’s body.
This bright, piercing golden radiance was like a thin, golden veil—soft yet profound—settling over the serpent king’s form.
In the blink of an eye, that layer of mysterious golden light began to condense rapidly, its brilliance intensifying.
It transformed into a brilliant, piercing beam, breaking through all constraints as it shot upward toward the Green Serpent King’s head.
Lu Xuan’s sky-covering purple palm was instantly pierced by this unstoppable golden rainbow.
Where the golden rainbow passed, the purple palm shattered like fragmented clouds, scattering wildly in all directions.
The terrifying impact of their collision caused the entire space to tremble, warp, and distort.
In the span of a single breath, a phantom image of a golden lion, nearly a hundred zhang in size, was reflected across the boundless sky.
This lion phantom was incredibly lifelike. Its mane fluttered fiercely in the wind, and its enormous eyes gleamed with a chilling golden light as it surveyed all beneath it.
“Escaped?”
“This human seems to possess an astonishing and peculiar technique. Remarkably fast.”
“He actually ignored my Heaven-and-Earth Sealing power.”
From the moment the lion phantom appeared, Lu Xuan’s body had already scattered into motes of starlight, vanishing without a trace.
Lu Xuan’s immediate, decisive retreat left the lion phantom stunned for the first time.
However, the Lion Lord’s Primordial Spirit Phantom was genuinely surprised that this human, Lu Xuan, could ignore its Heaven-and-Earth Sealing power.
After all, this phantom possessed the strength of a human martial artist at the peak of the Divine Mansion realm—the power of a Primordial Spirit True Person.
Logically speaking, under the sealed heaven and earth of a Primordial Spirit True Person like itself—
A mere martial artist who had just entered the Divine Mansion realm like Lu Xuan shouldn’t have been able to escape.
Thus, the Lion Lord’s Primordial Spirit Phantom deduced that this human must have mastered an extremely powerful martial technique.
Having lost track of Lu Xuan, the Lion Lord’s Primordial Spirit Phantom could only turn its gaze to the Green Serpent King on the ground below.
At that moment, the Green Serpent King’s human form, resembling a hunched old man, lay limp on the ground, twitching slightly.
It looked utterly feeble, barely clinging to life, more out than in, appearing to be hanging on by a thread.
Its black cloak was tattered and torn, and its entire body was covered in ghastly wounds.
The dark green blood had long since dried, staining the ground like a green pool—a pitiful sight.
The lion phantom’s enormous golden eyes suddenly shot out two beams of light, illuminating the Green Serpent King’s body.
“Useless wretch, get up!”
“My appearance has already been detected by that damned thing.”
“If we don’t leave quickly, that annoying mirror will lock onto this location and take away your soul’s breath.”
“Then, there will be no hiding place for you anywhere in the entire Great Xia Dynasty!”
Under the illumination of the two golden beams, the Green Serpent King’s injuries began to recover visibly.
At that, the serpent king hurriedly forced itself to stand, its hunched body trembling slightly.
With a face full of reverence and fear, it looked up at the lion phantom and said, its voice quivering, “Yes, yes, yes, Lord Lion. I will leave this cursed place immediately.”
The lion phantom cast a deep glance at the distant sky, then transformed into a golden light and quickly merged back into the Green Serpent King’s body.
“Also, that human just now was very strange—not an ordinary Divine Mansion realm martial artist.”
“He has likely memorized your aura. Before him, you have nowhere to hide.”
“So from now on, you absolutely must not clash with him. Otherwise, this Primordial Spirit Phantom of mine will expend a great deal of power.”
The Lion Lord’s Primordial Spirit Phantom warned the Green Serpent King. It had taken considerable effort to get this phantom into the Great Xia Dynasty.
It wasn’t there to protect the serpent king, but to be used on the Dragon Lord.
The power of a Primordial Spirit True Person’s divine sense couldn’t be casually entrusted to someone else.
If that separated strand of divine sense was destroyed by another, it would have significant repercussions for the main body.
In severe cases, it could even destabilize the foundation of the Divine Mansion, leading to chaos and a plummet in cultivation realm.
If it kept getting entangled with that Divine Mansion martial artist, then everything they had worked for would be in vain.
“Remember your mission in the Great Xia Dynasty. You must find the Dragon Lord as quickly as possible.”
“We need to know what the Dragon Lord used back then to break through the shackles of the far western frontier and enter the Great Xia Dynasty.”
“Do not disappoint me again. That Demon Emperor has been coveting the Great Xia Dynasty for over a thousand years.”
“If you fail, you know the consequences, Qinglin!”
The Lion Lord’s final words seemed to come from the deepest abyss of hell, carrying a bone-chilling coldness that caused the Green Serpent King’s expression to change drastically, panic spreading across its face.
The Green Serpent King nodded frantically, like a pestle pounding garlic, and said, “Yes, Lord Lion. I will find the Dragon Lord’s whereabouts as soon as possible.”
“Those damned humans from the Pure World White Lotus Sect have already promised me.”
“As soon as my injuries recover, I will set out and contact them.”
This time, with no further obstructions, the Green Serpent King’s figure burst into motion, quickly diving into the dense mountain peaks.
After a long moment, a flash of dreamy purple light streaked across the sky above the Green Serpent King. Lu Xuan’s figure slowly materialized, his dark black robes fluttering gently in the wind.
Hovering in the void, Lu Xuan’s expression was grave. His eyes were fixed intently on the direction the Green Serpent King had taken, his gaze seeming to pierce through the layers of forest.
That lion demon beast’s Primordial Spirit Phantom just now was far more powerful than he had anticipated.
Even the old woman’s Primordial Spirit Phantom that had appeared in Feihe Prefecture City paled in comparison.
With his current strength, dealing with a phantom comparable to a Primordial Spirit True Person was still far too difficult.
So, the moment the Lion Lord’s Primordial Spirit Phantom appeared, Lu Xuan had unhesitatingly activated his martial technique, “World at His Fingertips,” and fled far away.
A peak Great Demon King-level beast wasn’t worth Lu Xuan risking his life to kill.
Even if he managed to destroy that Lion Lord’s Primordial Spirit Phantom, he would be severely wounded, his divine sense drained to the point of exhaustion.
However, the fact that such a powerful Primordial Spirit power was entrusted to a mere peak Great Demon King-level beast—
It was clear that this demon beast king harbored some unspeakable secret!
With this thought, ripples stirred in Lu Xuan’s eyes, a flash of purple light passing through them.
Without the slightest hesitation, Lu Xuan turned, transforming into a purple shadow, and stepped into the ethereal void, heading toward Li Chengxing’s location.
Tian Du!
The central city district of Tian Du remained bustling and vibrant.
Less than twenty miles from the Vermilion Bird Guard headquarters stood a towering thousand-zhang pagoda.
The pagoda was entirely dark black, majestic in scale, with upturned eaves and intricate brackets exuding a sense of antiquity and solemnity.
It stood silently, as if overlooking the entire city of Tian Du. Its deep black, profound body emanated an air of mystery and authority.
Looking up, a massive plaque hung above the entrance of the black pagoda, bearing three powerfully written characters:
Jian Tian Si! (The Office of Celestial Observation)
